Lithium
by owlloveyou
Summary: Her actions have affected me, Kurama… and now Yusuke. Kurama and Yusuke protected me; they risked their lives to save me and everyone they love many times. In return, I would protect them… and everyone else like them. I printed my name on the dotted line, pressing the pen hard against the paper to see my signature clearly in dark blue ink. Sequel to "Nervosa."
1. Carefree Highway

**A/N**: Here it is: the sequel to _Nervosa_!

I highly recommend reading _Nervosa_ before you begin this. In Kurama's POV, Nerv. is _almost_ spoiled. Plenty of other important information is purposefully neglected but it's enough to spoil a good amount of Nerv.'s plot. So you've been warned: this is **not** meant to be a standalone fic.

Also, a good bulk of this chapter is Kuwabara's POV/fight if that makes up for the length at all. I didn't mean for the _opening_ chapter to be longer than planned but… oops?

One more thing before we begin: I guess I should warn you guys that the rating will probably go up later depending on how gruesome I feel like being in later chapters.

I think I covered everything I wanted to cover before we started, so here we go!

* * *

_**PART I. "Carefree Highway."**_

* * *

_"My friends don't come dime a dozen.  
The good Lord knows I couldn't ever leave 'em behind, leave 'em behind, leave 'em."_

_— Slade Echeverria._

* * *

**Aiko.**

"Welcome juvies and delinquents alike!"

My boot heels gripped the slanted, rough wooden tiles beneath me. I could see the entire city from my vantage point. Beneath the hill was a sea of green and colorful cherry blossom and plum trees among the roofs of buildings and homes alike. The photo-worthy scene was all under a beautiful, wispy-clouded sky; there wasn't a dark cloud in sight.

Hirogawa's voice boomed out of the speakers as he carefully strode next to me. "And the rare but ever-present convicts!"

"To _Kagami Mansion_!"

The crowd directly below us on the yellowed, dirt-patched front lawn cheered and roared. Even from up here I could see them itching to get past Sasakawa, Kazuki, and inside the mansion. The brawns of our operation, our Bull, held a mean mug that could rightfully scare a convicted felon so nobody dared to test their luck.

"Tell them what they have to do, Stray Cat," Hirogawa said.

I made sure to look past the crowd of men below and into the beautiful scenery to ensure I didn't stutter.

I brought the mic to my mouth again and let my free hand fly behind me to point at the very top, flat roof—almost resembling Meiou's without the safety railing, chain-link fence.

"Make it to the top roof."

Hirogawa laughed, ruffling his black bowl cut. "Anything else you think is important?"

"Oh, right." I grinned. "You have one hour."

"You're a cold girl," Hirogawa howled with laughter through the mic.

"Everyone who makes it to the top roof before the hour ends competes in an all-out brawl for the last four Megallica tickets!"

The crowd cheered so loud I figured we might as well pack up and leave since some resident way down at the end of the hill would call the cops. We were thankful to have Amakusa in one of the rooms below on the police scanner.

I was sure they all wondered how we were able to maneuver and set up this event in the abandoned mansion. I bet they all thought it was something intricate since Hirogawa was involved. It was actually simple.

Out of boredom and desire for a change of scenery during his routine, recreational drug use, Hirogawa decided to spend one long weekend in the mansion… after breaking and entering. Searching and exploring, he happened upon the master plans of the house and the other prints of the eccentric developer's eclectic buildings throughout Western Japan.

Hirogawa waved his hand around, asking them to calm down. "I feel we're missing something, you guys."

I thought for a second, running through our checklist in my head. "Hm… No refunds."

"No… well, yeah. But one more thing."

"What?"

"Back-up!"

We were trespassing after all.

"Better take this down," I said, tapping my temple with my index finger, feeling the gel nail pierce against my skin. "If the cops are called and we're all busted, we're meeting at the abandoned Community Ruins construction site where the all-out brawl will be held—so all plans here will be _cancelled_! If you don't show up an hour after the signal, you don't participate."

We knew there would only be three people at _most_ participating here due to our intentional setup, so I hoped we wouldn't get caught. It would be harder to control an entirely chaotic environment like that; at least if we left them in the mansion we could control things.

"You'll hear this—" He pulled the small air horn out of the back pocket of his baggy jeans and pressed it, letting it blare into the mic and out of the speakers for a few seconds. "It'll last for ten seconds."

"We don't have a chime for when the hour's up. That's all on you! Hope you have a watch."

"We _will_ lock the top roof's entrances after the hour!"

Neither Hirogawa nor I were worried about anyone busting it down, or trying anything funny since Sasakawa was packing heat. I mean, the gun wasn't _loaded..._ it was just to fear-monger. But even these walking sacks of meat knew better than to risk their chances with Sasakawa pointing a gun at their face.

I tapped my foot on the tile. "Everything understood?"

The crowd roared louder than before, and Sasakawa opened the front doors as Hirogawa and I yelled.

"_Begin_!"

* * *

**Kazuma.**

I couldn't believe it was such a big turn out—there were at least a hundred people here! Maybe more. So with the ten thousand yen entrance fee, they had to have made at _least_ a hundred thousand yen! *****

I stood my ground and weight as I pushed past the large entrance with the majority-male crowd—but I instantly realized why they gave us an hour. Everyone continued to push blindly into the poorly lit foyer, all clambering for the staircase that lay ahead.

I stopped and let the rest of the crowd run past me when I noticed something from the corner of my eyes. A dirty mirror… no big deal, right? Except when I looked down and found the floors were mirrors as well… and the other wall, and the wall at the other end of the foyer, and the ceiling…

The entire house was made of mirrors!

On cue, Aiko's cackling rang out from the speakers outside.

"Enjoy your stay at Kagami Mansion!"

My reflection was infinite, stretching out into a great, dark unknown as I got smaller and smaller in the distance. Reflections bounced off curved and slanted walls and stairs, creating a big, visual mess.

"It's a fucking maze!" someone cried as they ran down the stairs to try another path. "Some bullshit optical illusion maze!"

"I knew it was too good to be true!" A girl ran down the steps, furious, before taking a right and entering another room. "Hirogawa wouldn't make it _that_ easy! What a prick."

I stood still, debating what to do. It was a maze and all the mirrors did was trip us up! I couldn't use my reiki ever since the tournament ended but my hunches were still good… so I couldn't have completely lost it, right?

Gah! I already wasted ten minutes debating what to do.

I grumbled, wondering what the best way to approach this was. This was a trick house, right? So… there was going to be a bunch of hidden passages. I couldn't spend time banging on every mirror here for a secret passage and my reiki was out of whack so I couldn't use that. I'd have to hope my hunches were still good.

Twenty minutes now…

Some guys that found their way back to the main entrance left, walking past me and cursing loudly.

Slowly, I began walking through the foyer, heading straight. Coming to a fork in the foyer that led into two hallways, I debated which would be best.

Taking my gut instinct, I made a left and headed down another dimly lit hallway. A couple of grown men ran past me, confused and angry, but I continued to push forward, convinced in my guess.

As I soon realized the hallway led to a staircase, I didn't feel right about it and instead made a quick right into one of the rooms. There didn't seem to be any furniture in the house, only mirror. Mirror after mirror after dirty mirror and the lone, occasionally broken window if you were lucky.

I stood in the room I entered, feeling right about it—but I couldn't place why. It really didn't look right. It was an empty room with a broken window. I wandered around the room as people in the hallway continued passing by, their reflections disappeared as quickly as they appeared.

Maybe it was a trick room. "Hopefully..."

I felt around the room, rapping my knuckles on the mirror as I walked around until I found a hollow knock. I placed my hand against the portion of the mirror and pushed, confused, until it swung open. Like a revolving door, it opened, spun, and pushed me inside as it completed a one-eighty.

I stumbled inside the narrow, dark hallway. I felt around with one foot, finding steps. I stepped up them carefully, slowly, holding my hands out in front of me. I could feel it turning, angling. I walked into a few walls that wouldn't open and found I was supposed to make turns.

Soon I came to a dead-end and nowhere to turn. I pushed on the walls until one, like the first wall, slowly spun open and I stepped outside as it revolved. I exited the small room I was in to the hallway and looked over the banister to see where I was. Right below was the foyer and a bunch of people scrambling around room to room.

Steadying myself since it was dizzy to look down and see _hundreds_ of people all at once, I quickly looked away and tried focusing on my floor. It was still a mess and even worse up here since slanted walls reflected everyone below.

"I probably only have ten minutes left by now…" I grumbled to myself, checking my watch on my wrist.

I just had to find a way to the roof.

"One floor away."

Walking down the hallway, I tried not to pay too much attention to the moving reflections so I could keep steady and focused.

I put my hand on the wall, knocking gently. I didn't think there'd be another room with a secret staircase but there might be one in the hallway. I walked around the hallway, following it blindly, not exactly feeling like I shouldn't be headed down this way... but not that I should either.

I began to turn back but something smooth grazed my hair and I all but jumped out of my skin. I looked around for what small object could have touched me but found nothing. Confused, wondering where else something could have come from, I looked up and gently patted my hair.

"Please don't be a huge spider," I mumbled, breath caught in my throat.

If it wasn't for that small glint a few feet above me given by the light from a nearby window, I wouldn't have noticed the glass string.

I looked around the floor to make sure nobody else could see me. I pulled the string carefully, a square mirror flap on the ceiling opened upon tugging, and a clear glass ladder slid out.

I had to hurry up the ladder before anyone else saw!

Once settled in the dark room, I pulled the ladder up and the door with it, putting me in darkness again. I would have been more concerned if I didn't hear Aiko's laughter, the smell of skunk, and loud hip-hop music playing. I stumbled around the room until I found a doorknob.

The bright, outside light was blinding but my eyes adjusted quickly.

Aiko cheered from her seat across the cement roof on the ground. "I _knew_ he'd make it!"

"Lucky you, kid," said the older guy with a bowl cut. "I was just about to lock up. I was beginning to think we gave too little time for more than one person to show up."

"Looks like it's just Kuwabara and Matsuoka!" Aiko said, pulling a rolled cigarette out of her mouth and placing the mic in front of it. "Great. Lock it up. Let's get this fight _going_!"

Matsuoka… I looked around the open roof as a gust of wind blew by. My eyes landed on bowl-cut guy. I guess he was Hirogawa.

He spoke into a walkie-talkie. "Copy Dog to Hawk, how's the scanner? Over."

The walkie hissed before another voice could be heard. "_Copy Hawk to Dog, no reports of noise complaints. Clear for now. Over_."

"Remind him to lock the windows too," Aiko said. "Someone could still get up here through those."

Then the thug that guarded the front door was up here… No.

"We're starting now. Stray Cat says lock up all the windows, will you? Over."

"_Copy that, over_."

There were some speakers and a boom box… Other than that, the only other person up here was…

"How did he even fit through that door?!" I screamed at Aiko once I saw the obese man I had to fight.

His huge size wasn't even just fat, there was definitely muscle underneath. He was also taller than me at about a hundred and ninety-five centimeters. He had these thick lips that had trouble lying over his teeth, like he'd have to put effort in keeping them shut. He had this buzz cut that reminded me of Okubo, a stubby nose like a pig, and his face was meaty enough to make his eyelids heavy so his eyes were just slits. ******

"I was surprised too, but it happened so... easily!" she laughed.

She closed the plastic top over her salad before passing Hirogawa, who returned to her side, the cigarette.

"Five-second count when you're down," she announced into the mic, nudging the boom box away from her with her foot as it changed songs. "No kidney shots, but you can hit each other's dicks to your personal delight. Throwing your opponent off the flat roof is an automatic win but ill-advised."

Skipping between us, she had an eerie resemblance to the Dark Tournament referee Juri as she lifted her hand in the air.**  
**

"Matsuoka versus Kuwabara!" she yelled into the mic. "Begin!"

She wasn't even there! Maybe it was a girl referee thing…

Uh-oh.

He lunged towards me, running at full speed with his fist cocked back. He was surprisingly fast for being such a big guy! But after the tournament, this should be a piece of cake!

I dodged him, sidestepping him so his fist would push past me. Wind carried with his punch and I stumbled as a gust tried pushing me off my feet. How he was able to lift that log of a leg was one of the Seven Wonders of the World to me, but he turned swiftly and aimed his foot at my face.

I couldn't make it out of the way in time. I moved my arms to my face for protection. The hard blow came in seconds and I stood my ground, keeping my legs firm as the kick sent me sliding back.

"How on Earth can this fuck run that fast?!" Aiko laughed into the mic. "He's coming full speed at Kuwabara—both hands up like he trained to be a professional boxer."

I stayed crouched, readying my own fists. Throughout the tournament I got used to using my reiken but I couldn't use that. Even if I wanted to I couldn't, not to mention it wouldn't be fair.

His thick lips pulled back further and showed clenched teeth as he jabbed at me. I moved my head out of the way of each jab until I could muster a good punch to counter. He aimed a bit too high, for my forehead, so I ducked and stepped forward.

"Oh! And Kuwabara sends multiple heavy blows to Mastuoka's torso—I can't even count, it was so fast!"

And he still barely budged!

Maybe I shouldn't hold back...

If I could step up the punches I could get some leverage. Throwing him over the ledge probably wasn't going to happen with how big he was, so I'd have to tire him out, get him to _trip_ off the roof, or knock his lights out—meaning a punch straight to the dome. It was a toss-up between the first or last choice.

"And Matsuoka tries a stunning uppercut! Luckily, Kuwabara dodges swiftly—stepping out of the way and putting distance between the two of them!"

I wasn't Hiei; I couldn't give him the run around like that. I'd have to go with my last choice: punch him hard enough to knock him out his socks.

"Kuwabara sprints to Matsuoka! Kuwabara's fast and doles out a stunning punch straight to the jaw!"

Once my knuckles hit the bone, I knew I'd have this after the next punch! His head cocked back sharply and he stumbled backwards, clutching his bloody mouth. I sidestepped away from him as he swatted at me with his other hand like he was trying to catch a fly. I readied my other fist for his cheek, aiming for his temple this time, but he caught me off guard.

He turned his back to me?!

By the time I could react to the rounding kick, his foot already connected with my ribs. I had the wind knocked out of me as I flew across the roof. The pain hit my arm first as I skid across the floor, then my back...

"Holy shit…" Aiko's voice pulled away from the mic as I rolled to a stop, writhing in flaring pain.

No wonder that kick was insane! His legs were holding him up all day.

Her voice boomed over the stereos again in less than a second. "One! … Two! …"

I wasn't going down! I've handled worse. I stood up with a groan and steadied myself. Across the roof from me he stood, breathing heavily, holding his hand to his mouth. He was tired and that punch I got in did some damage.

"And Kuwabara's back up at the count of four. The fight continues!"

One _hard_ punch to the nose and he'd be down, no doubt. But if I went straight for the kill he'd get one over on me again… and it had to be a real hard hit.

I spat, coughed, and steadied myself.

_Real_ hard.

I ran at him head on with my sneakers picking up dust behind me. From behind his hand, I could see the glimpse of a satisfied smirk like I was dumb enough to try that twice.

Kuwabara, Kazuma, wasn't so stupid!

When I was close enough, like I thought, he picked up his leg again, aiming his foot at my ribs. He knew if he got the kick in, I'd be down.

I jumped up, reaching my foot out to land on his. I used it like a stepping stone to push myself forward. The second I cocked my arm back, he figured out my plan. He threw back his arm too, ready to punch me in the stomach.

His leg began lowering when I let my fist loose—and I felt the sharp pain in my knuckles once I hit cartilage.

He never got his hit in.

I flew with the weight of the punch and watched as he tipped back, eyes rolling into the back of his head. With a loud _boom_, he hit the pavement, and I stumbled around him when I landed, clutching my ribs in pain.

Aiko's chant could be heard again as I steadied myself. "_Yes_, Kuwabara! _Yeeeeeeessss_!"

"Don't just cheer," Hirogawa snapped. "Count him out!"

"One! …" I waited anxiously to see if he'd stir, but he just writhed in pain on the ground. "Two! …" He was still conscious, and that meant he could get up if… "Three! … Four! …" He stirred again, tried to get up, but wasn't able to roll on his side. Instead, he clutched his bloody face with a deep groan. "Five! Kuwabara is the winner!"

Aiko and I cheered, and Hirogawa clapped as Aiko ran up to me, digging in one of her high-waisted jean's pockets to pull out a folded envelope.

"I present to you, Kuwabara, Kazuma, the winner of the _Kagami Mansion Battle,_ four tickets to see Megallica this April!" she announced into the mic.

I snatched the white envelope from her so fast I practically ripped her manicured hands out of their wrist sockets. She didn't mind though. We just continued to cheer until Hirogawa walked up to us.

"Congrats, kid!" he said, grinning. "Now I know why she wanted to get you in on this: you've got some skill. Pushed me to start it and everything last winter."

"Aw geez, Aiko, you didn't have to do all this. I did win..." I trailed off, not wanting to talk about the tournament in front of Hirogawa.

"Eh, it's no big deal," she replied with a shrug. "It was actually pretty fun to set up."

"Speaking of fun," Hirogawa said as he dug in his varsity jacket's pocket. He pulled out another ticket and handed it to Aiko. "I'm not going. I picked up a second job and it's usually night-shift."

"You sure, Hirogawa?" she asked as she took the ticket slowly. "Megallica's not really my scene."

"Yeah, you know I can always get another ticket. They're playing out past Mushiyori soon so I'm thinking of taking a trip down there."

"We're all going!" I asserted, gripping the envelope tightly as I pumped it in the air with my fist.

The sharp pain in my ribs sparked again and I recoiled to hold my sides.

"You sure you want me to tag along?" she asked uncertainly. "I can always just sell this. I'm sure Matsuoka would still want a ticket."

I cleared my throat before replying, still putting pressure on my ribs. "Hell yeah, you can come! You practically got me the tickets… you know, like, made them available to me and all. It'd be cool if you came. I can convert anyone into a _true_ Megallica fan. _Trust me!"_

She hesitated and looked down at the tickets before flashing me a wary smile. "Yeah… maybe I will go."

Hirogawa clapped his hands together, rubbing them as he looked around the roof.

"Let's start cleaning up this mess, Hojo." He then headed towards the door where the guard stood. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible."

I was still pumped up and excited, and ended up cutting her off before she could reply. "_We're going to see Megallica_!"

* * *

**Kurama.**

Just seconds after I rang the doorbell, I could hear small footsteps running to answer.

I gently shook my closed umbrella to push off water droplets. The door opened almost instantly, revealing the younger child of the Hojo residence. It seemed the older wasn't awake yet as she never would have let him brandish the slicked-back hairstyle he wore to emulate his idol Urameshi, Yusuke.

"She's not up yet, Shuichi!" he said, opening the door further. "But you can still come in."

"I didn't expect her to be," I said, stepping inside.

I set my umbrella in the stand near the front door. From the living room, I could hear the faint voice of a female newscaster on TV as I began taking off my shoes.

"_Yesterday, just a few weeks after local police enlisted the help of Saburomaru, Hideki, a renowned private eye, they were able to arrest a serial arsonist who went into hiding after terrorizing our town almost a year ago. Saionji, Ryu, a thirty-four year old male, was captured up at Misawa Airport late last evening as he tried fleeing to Hokkaido after setting fire to…"_

I should wait until after finals to tell her about that. She would become so excited she'd ruin her studying.

Mrs. Hojo came into view from the other end of the entryway as I slid off my other shoe. She looked just like her daughter: light brown hair and eyes, and the same curve in the apple of her cheeks. She adjusted the collar of her white blouse as she greeted me with a smile.

She was quick to make conversation with her hands. They moved immediately, signing to me, and Minoru began translating.

"_Would you like some breakfast? There's still some on the stove._"

"No, thank you," I said with a shake of my head. "I've already eaten."

"S_he's still asleep and Noboru left to work already_," Minoru translated as his mother heaved a loud sigh. "_I'm leaving to drop off Minoru and head to work, so I'm hoping you can wake her up in time._"

"Of course. She asked me to come."

His mother laughed loudly before continuing.

"_Then we're off! Don't be afraid to eat. Don't be afraid to pressure her to eat, either! Some breakfast is still on the stove._"

"Bye, Shuichi!" Minoru smiled. "Good luck! Tell Sis I said 'good luck' too!"

"Will do." I nodded, and Mrs. Hojo returned my gesture.

I waved to the boy as they made their way past me and out the front door. Upon the lock clicking, I made my way through the quiet apartment. When I arrived in front of her room, I knocked softly, wondering if she finally woke up and was only lazy.

She wasn't awake, of course.

I knocked again and pushed the door open. Along with it, underwear and t-shirts belonging to both her and her brother slid across the floor with its swing. I looked around the floor. It wasn't too messy… only clothing, a few books, and some figurines. It was her desk that was trashed—with piles of scratch paper and empty liter water bottles.

On my left, upon entering the room, she lay on the bottom bunk, buried under a mountain of blankets.

"Aiko," I called her name, and yet, no real response. She stirred underneath the blankets and rolled over with a groan, turning to the wall. With a small sigh, I coughed into my fist and spoke louder. _"Aiko."_

Her body stiffened, and a messy head of hair perked up from under the blankets and whipped around to see me. With a gasp, she began throwing blankets off her to get out of bed.

When a thin, bare leg poked out from under a blanket, I caught a glimpse of the congealed burn skin that wrapped slightly around her ankle and lower shin. She paused, remembering she probably wasn't fully dressed, and quickly pulled her leg back under.

"Out!" she snapped, to which I repressed a smile and exited the room, pulling the door closed behind me.

Usually, we only met on the way to school. I was here this morning because today was the beginning of final exams. She asked me to wake her since her parents left earlier than usual and she was surely to go against her better judgment, actually get up from bed to turn off her alarm, and then go back to sleep.

After I teased her about how often she ditched that today shouldn't be a special occasion for her to show up, she "swore to god" that her habits coming into Meiou were "good" but it was when she befriended Natsume and her clique she started "rebelling tenfold." Bad habits included excessive partying and ditching class to find a safe place to smoke.

The latter was something she'd always done but she was just trying to pin the blame on Natsume and her friends.

Neither of us considered the group of school girls a threat until we found Natsume to be the daughter of one of Reikai's Barrier Regulations and Enforcement officers.

The group dealt with youkai immigration and matters regarding the barrier that separated Makai from Ningenkai. This wouldn't have been a problem had I not been here illegally, under the guise of a human.

Natsume threatened to expose me, have me handled appropriately by Reikai, and have Aiko punished for knowingly harboring an illegal immigrant. Things were seemingly handled when Yusuke brought it to Koenma's attention. I was an asset to the Prince at the time so he forged a few documents that pushed Natsume's powers at bay.

Things seemed fine until we were forced into the Dark Tournament and I reverted to my youko form. This wouldn't have been a problem had Reikai officials not been present.

"Thank god he's here," she grumbled from inside her room, slamming her closet door shut. "I don't even remember turning off my alarm."

Aiko found out about the tournament through Natsume, who, lucky, wasn't present to see me. She was, however, able to talk to Aiko about the tournament and let her piece everyone's disappearances together.

I didn't see Natsume and her friends as much since the tournament, though Aiko was still around her often.

"You can come in," she sighed and I turned the knob again to enter.

I found her leaning against her desk, arms crossed over her untucked blouse.

"We have forty minutes to get to school," I said, and as I neared her she put her face in her hands. "You also have to eat."

"Okay, _mom_," she sighed through her hands. "I just need to fix my face and we'll go."

"Your routine takes too long. It takes longer to get to campus from here." When she didn't respond, I sighed. "Are you going to move your hands from your face?"

"Not until I can put on concealer."

"I've seen you without it plenty of times."

"Not from a gross three-hour attempt at sleep. You have seen me with a _clean_ face and I am sure there's _actual_ _grime_ in my eyes."

"We don't have time for your routine. You're fine without it today."

"I need to at least do concealer. Move."

I sighed again, hanging my head. You would think if I could boost her confidence then she wouldn't feel the need to be bothered, but it never worked out as such. Today wouldn't be the day I stopped trying.

"What could you possibly need to conceal?"

She scoffed, finally removing her hands from her face to reveal tired eyes. "These fucking _Dooney and Bourke_ bags under my eyes."

"Ah." I stifled a smile as she walked past me, wondering how low she ranked _Dooney and Bourke_ in handbag fashion. "We leave in ten minutes."

"Uh-huh." She ignored me.

Of course she would prioritize her make-up first and then try to get out of eating breakfast. We didn't have time for that.

I first made sure her mother already packed her lunch in her school bag before waiting by the open bathroom door. She should be on her eyeliner right about…

I stepped inside the bathroom as she dragged the liquid above her upper lashes. Walking next to her, up to the sink, she eyed me curiously through the mirror as she began lining her other eye.

"What do you need?" she asked in a relatively sweet tone. "I'm sure my mom left breakfast on the stove so feel free to help yourself."

I shook my head quietly, almost feeling guilty for the plan I had in mind.

I quickly reached for the faucet handle that lie in front of her. She jerked her arm away from me to avoid bumping arms... and dragged the black liquid across her face.

My arm returned to my side without having touched the handle and she glared at me through the mirror, scowl apparent and just as amusing as I imagined it would be. I stifled a laugh as she growled at me.

"Out."

"Oh, come now," I said, smiling down at the black line that trailed across her face. "Maybe it's a sign you shouldn't wear make-up. Just for today."

"_Out_!" she said through gritted teeth, still glaring at me through the mirror.

I continued stifling laughter as I left the bathroom, but she could hear the chuckles catching in my throat.

She was less than amused three minutes later when she stepped into the kitchen and was offered the toast and egg her mother made earlier. I was satisfied that she decided to stick with just the concealer and eyebrow pencil today. The bare look wasn't half bad on her.

"Here," she said, shoving a small booklet in my hand. "They're my chemistry notes. Could you quiz me on the way there?"

"Su—"

"To make up for my face."

I smiled as she scowled. "Sure."

She shoved the food in her mouth and we gathered our belongings. She ushered me out and we set off, heading to the elevator to leave the building.

"Which chapter?" I asked.

She swallowed the last of her food before replying. "What other chapter than my own personal hell?"

I flipped to the thermochemistry section, noting the scribbled title. I was often praised for my quick reading though it was another story when it came to her hand writing. It almost baffled me how someone who had a knack for art, shown by the rough sketches of various people or animals next to her notes, could have such horrid handwriting.

I wouldn't need to entertain the questions for long. I asked enough questions to last the elevator ride, and with a quiet swish of the opening doors, I handed the booklet back to her.

"I think you'll do fine."

She took it from me with a grumble as we made our way out the lobby, and I was the first to open an umbrella. Noting that, she didn't bother opening hers and instead moved closer to me to fit underneath.

"I really need to go over that chapter some more," she pressed as we stepped into the rain.

The droplets padded softly on the umbrella above us yet they were abundant enough to serve as noticeable background noise.

"You've studied for days. Give yourself a break," I reassured her.

She sighed and then mumbled a small "oh" before spilling information.

"About breaks... Get ready to disconnect from Ningenkai because Natsume's dad is in town for the next week, starting tomorrow," she said simply. "After that, you'll be free for a while because he's headed to the States."

Aiko took to hanging around Natsume after school hours for many reasons, but her main duty was to overhear the phone conversations between Natsume and her father. All she had to do was find out when he would be in town and, if possible, if any officials from other jurisdictions were joining him.

"Sendozuka Shopping Center's a big one," she said. "But he's going to be here all week, so I can't guarantee any specific places."

Normal places were the Nakayama and Sendozuka Shopping Centers, or any high-end restaurant or plaza in any nearby city. Nothing was ever specific or guaranteed and it was only a matter of time before I was caught.

Koenma arranged with me a rift in the barrier I could use to flee Ningenkai. Of course, to protect him of this crime, I would have to take accountability and say I opened the portal.

Logically, there should be no way for me to break the barrier. I either had to know someone who could open portals or be able to do so myself. If I were to possess either kind of knowledge I would become an even larger threat. But as Youko Kurama, I was already issued as "kill-on-site" and would be taken out without question if caught.

Reikai was bound to find me sooner or later. It was only a matter of time until someone put the pieces together but I was going to milk my time here for all it was worth.

"Christ, this has to be like, the longest game of hide and seek with Reikai, huh?" she snickered. "Go big or go home."

The words came easily, as it was my first response for some reason. "One day I will have to go home."

She looked up to me, faltering in stride momentarily. She fell out from under the safety of the umbrella, standing in the rain. I stretched my arm out to her, letting the umbrella keep her dry as soft drops fell on my shoulder and head.

"Well since your time is limited…" Her eyes fell to the wet ground… It wasn't as if she didn't know this. Her eyes then picked up and lay on me with ease. "Quiz me on this thermochemistry."

She shoved the booklet in my hand before returning to my side. With forbearance and some time spent decoding her handwriting again, I asked her another series of questions.

Our walk felt quick and we soon set foot on Meiou's property. Peers passed us by with their quick strides and we greeted others as we situated ourselves at the shoe locker. Aiko shoved the booklet in her bag and took the liberty of housing my damp umbrella with hers in her shoe locker.

"I just want this to be over!" she groaned suddenly after waving to another student.

I tapped my shoe on the ground, fitting it snug against my foot. She had already slipped on her pair and was now leaning against the lockers.

"When finals are over, Yu and I are going to play pachinko! I need this break to come so much faster. I'm going to fail anyway…" *******

"Have you gone over Machiavelli?" I asked. "Our English Language and Literature final is first."

She nodded. "I skimmed through it again last night. I even took apart some sentences to help on the English Language portion."

"You're stressing over nothing, then," I assured her simply. "You should do well on your examination. Your pachinko games will be well deserved."

"I have a feeling it won't," she sighed as we began walking to class. "This is my last chance to make into the class' top _thirty_… because we all know I won't even make it to the top twenty."

I learned it was best to let her deal with certain things on her own, certain things she wouldn't budge on—such as this. The most I could offer was silent support and presence, and after all was said and done, comfort if asked for.

She dispersed the air quickly with a more upbeat tone as another group of students passed by us, and she waved to the group of upperclassmen.

"Just think, after finals we'll be second years!" She stretched her arms behind her head, letting her bag dangle from her fingers as she watched the group pass us by. "Maybe then we'll have a different homeroom teacher."

It was then I could conveniently sense the familiar presence and pick up the familiar smell of Mr. Suzuki. He was close behind us.

"You probably shouldn't talk about—"

She cut me off, still talking at the speed of light. "Can't _wait_ to get out of that class—I know he's got it out for me. I know it. That fat fuck is still mad I called him a fat fuck."

I sighed heavily, feeling him walk up behind us, and let her continue.

She cocked her head back, sending her plea to the heavens. "Please, next year, let me get a homeroom teacher other than that fat fuck!"

"You should be careful." Mr. Suzuki's voice loomed over her and she froze in stride and squeaked. "That fat fuck still needs to score your final exam."

"_Oh my gooooood!_" she shrieked in disbelief and laughed before running down the hall to our class.

"Honestly, Minamino," Mr. Suzuki huffed as Aiko ran into our classroom. "You're the top of your class; you don't need to hang out with that trash to get entertainment."

I shrugged and feigned a polite smile, unwilling to argue with a teacher who truly didn't like her. There was no use in defending her against this man.

"She doesn't participate in any clubs because she was given clearance to work," he continued. "And every time exams come around she barely scrapes—_Minamino_."

I continued down the hallway, ignoring him. I stepped foot in our homeroom to find her at her desk, face pushed in her school bag to muffle the crying laughter.

"Why didn't you _say anything_?" she snapped through laughter as I passed by her desk. "Every day you let me do something embarrassing!"

"I thought it would be funny," I replied with a smile as I headed to my desk. "And it was."

Fifth day in the past two weeks I let her mouth get her into trouble for my entertainment. Despite it being months since the tournament ended, returning to my human routine was equivalent to temperature shock. Though I wanted to be here, it was surreal to continue this routine when my old life continued to rear its head in this one.

Her humanity, mistakes... they were comforting since I had a feeling my time here would end sooner than later.

"Ass!"

* * *

**A/N:**

***** ¥10,000 is approximately $100 or £73. ¥100,000 is approximately $982 or £720.

**** **195 cm is about 6'5".

******* _Pachinko_ resembles a pinball machine and is often used as a gambling device. Minimum age to play and cash in the balls you win for your prize is 18.


	2. Collapsing At Your Doorstep

**Kurama.**

In the bright afternoon sunlight, we sat across from each other at my desk in the back of class. Her chopsticks remained untouched in front of her open lunch, and for the past five minutes I watched her glare at me, as if I was hypocritical for not having food today.

I ignored the glares easily and kept my attention on the small, translated novel of _Paradise Lost_ I had in front of me. It wasn't until she slid a small yellow notebook across the desk that I bothered to look up from the text.

"Here," she said.

Without looking at it, I remembered the set of notes I took for her. She watched me with a confused look as I pulled out a small, black notebook and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it with her free hand as with the other she picked out a triangular rice ball decorated with nori to look like a cat. Swallowing her food, she mumbled. "Calculus?" *****

"Japanese Sign Language?" I read the title of the yellow book.

"Well, I figured you may want to actually like, hold a simple conversation with my mom and not need a fellow Hojo to translate," she said, flipping through the first few pages. "You guys are ahead of us?"

I took another glance at the book before slipping it in my bag for another time. "Yes, I figured you'd want the notes to help."

She nodded as a sort of sadness glazed over her eyes. "Yeah, I would… Thanks."

I didn't reply and we sat in silence. She ate slowly as I read, and she didn't utter another word until a couple of classmates began making their way towards us.

"Watanabe, Miyu, and Saito, Mayaka, at nine o' clock," she muttered.

I glanced to my right, finding the tall dyed-blonde and her shorter, raven haired friend next to my desk.

"You made first in the class again, Minamino!" Watanabe smiled.

"Congratulations!" Saito said, glancing to Aiko. "Oh, sorry, are we interrupting something?"

"No," she replied easily, eyes glancing out the window to avoid watching the gushes of praise.

"Oh?" I said, feigning confusion to drop the subject out of courtesy. "I guess I got lucky."

"You are so apathetic, Minamino!" Saito pouted. "You should be more thrilled. You were four points away from a perfect score!"

I glanced up to the shorter girl and her friend, smiling, before returning to my novel. "I am thrilled."

I quickly looked back to the blonde, noticing something that ought not to be on her shoulder.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing behind them.

Aiko glanced with the two to the doors as I quickly, quietly, grabbed the grey insect off Watanabe's shoulder. I clutched the insect in my hand, crushing it in my grip, as the girls looked back to me.

"What?" Saito asked.

"I don't see anything," Watanabe said. "What are you talking about?"

Aiko stared at me before resting her chin in her hand and looking out the window.

"Must have been imagining things," I replied with an apologetic smile.

"Oh?" Watanabe shrugged. "Well, then, Minamino, after you two finish eating…"

"Sorry," I said, returning to my novel. "I'd really like to finish this book."

Watanabe glanced to Aiko, who didn't bother looking up.

"Okay!" Saito smiled and then looked between Aiko and I. "Hey, since it's Friday night, a couple of us are going out to that new karaoke lounge that opened! Would you two like to come?"

"Oh, no thanks," I replied.

"It'll be me, Isayashi from class two-A, and Isobe," Saito said.

"I would come but I'm busy." Watanabe shrugged.

"We sing American hits! Most of us want to go overseas and this is a fun way to practice. Are you sure you wouldn't want to come? Aiko?"

"Uh…" she stuttered, surprised that classmates would still want to hang out with her after her status with Natsume. The social elite, many of them now graduated, were more partial to her, not the average student. "Maybe… I'm trying to start a lab early tonight. If I finish, then maybe I'll go."

"That's great!" Saito smiled and turned with Watanabe, waving goodbye. "I hope you can convince Minamino to come too! Just let me know later!"

"Yeah…" Aiko waved slowly at them as they walked out of the class before glancing to me.

"I'd prefer not to go," I said simply.

"That's not why I'm looking at you."

"Then?"

"The thing on her shoulder..." she paused, voice quieting. "Was it really a…"

"A bug." I glanced up to her, meeting her stare, remembering the last time we encountered a Makai insect.

"We can barely make it a few months without something happening…" she mumbled, taking another small bite out of her rice ball before using her free hand to give me some of her napkins.

"A bug is normal," I replied quietly, wiping the gunk off my hand. "They slip through all the time."

"Remember when it was _normal_ last time?" she scoffed.

I sighed. She was right.

"If something was happening," I reassured her. "We would be notified."

With a quick shrug, she glanced back out the window, staring down at the closed front gate in the distance.

"I guess… At least Natsume's not here to see it."

I nodded in silence, and time passed as the clock neared the end of our lunch. Seconds before the bell chimed, she looked up to me.

"You sure you don't want to go out tonight?" she asked. "I think it could be fun. "

"Really, I'll have to pass."

For some reason, I still couldn't bring myself to branch out farther in this life. Perhaps if previous circumstances had worked out differently... And then again, perhaps not.

"Then will you start that chemistry lab with me? The unknown cation one? I could really use your help since it's a two parter."

I agreed, despite knowing I shouldn't have. I knew what I was getting into, staying late on campus during the first week. The sunset bathed the lab room a deep orange. I watched as the liquid in the test tube front of me turned a vibrant purple as I tried tuning out the club member's pleas that came from behind me.

I was debating on waiting for him to tire himself out, talk himself to death, but Aiko's patience was wearing thin and she would get to him before that happened.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Aiko grumbled from the other side of the lab bench, watching the various club members surround me. "Hello, Sorata? Get the fuck away from him! I need his help to finish this lab!"

"Please, Minamino, I'm begging you!"

"_School hours are now over_," the announcer spoke softly over the intercom. "_Students remaining on school ground, please return home promptly_."

"What's it like to have the most popular guy in school as a boyfriend?" Isayashi, a boy in room 2A who was here to use our lab results to write his lab report, snickered to Aiko.

"Shut up!" she screamed, face blushing a deep red underneath her foundation.

I cringed at her volume as Isayashi practically jumped out of his seat.

She leaned over the glass beakers to rip the heads off the club members. "We have one more practice cation to do and _then_ you can ream him over this bench to your heart's delight. Until this is over, _leave him alone_!"

"Thank you for your support, Aiko," I sighed and then turned to face the small group.

"Be the club president! I'm asking you sincerely!" Sorata pressed his hands together in a sincere prayer and bowed his head.

"I'm only a second year," I replied. "Besides, I honestly don't feel obligated."

"Hear that, Sorata?" she snapped. "Beat it so I can finish this fucking lab!"

Any other time I was sure she would be helpful, but seeing as how exams scores were posted earlier and she didn't even make it into the top fifty, she wasn't looking out for my best interest in this room. Even telling her about the arsonist's capture at Misawa Airport didn't matter to her.

All that mattered now was pulling up her grade.

"No!" Sorata lifted his head, pleading. "That's not true! You're the only one who can save our weak biology club!"

The two club members behind him nodded, and then he continued.

"You, who are at the top of your class and are so popular with the girl students, are the only one who can win us a student council budget increase!"

"I was going to say something _really_ mean," Aiko laughed dryly. "But I'm not even going to lie, like if Shuichi joined your club, you all would probably, _actually,_ be on some girls' radars."

"You are _not_ helping, Aiko," I said, glancing over my shoulder.

"Please!" he begged, wide eyes closing behind his thick glasses as he began cornering me against the bench.

His friends then chorused in and clasped their hands together to plea.

"Bunch of fucking creeps," Aiko growled, rounding the bench.

"I'm flattered to have you say so," I said to Sorata, forcing a polite smile as I inched away from them. "But I'm sorry, I have to decline."

Aiko latched onto two of the boys' collars to keep them in place as I headed for the door. Sorata was free of her grip, though, and he stumbled over a stool, pushing it aside as ran past me to block the door.

"Look at how you're acting, Sorata!" she snapped over the echoes of the rattling stool against the tiled floor. "Leave us alone!"

"Please!" Sorata begged. "Wait!"

"Yeah, come on, guys," Isayashi sighed from his seat. "I need their results. I messed mine up last class." When nobody replied, he got up from his seat and began heading for the other door in the lab. "I bet there's still a teacher on campus… You guys are annoying."

"I'm not moving from this spot until you say 'yes'!" Sorata snapped.

I rubbed the back of my head, knowing that if I headed for the other door he'd break his leg trying to get there before I did.

"I don't know what to do," I sighed, wondering if there was a way to slip powder up his nose without his friends watching.

I could have Aiko distract them… No, even then it would be obvious I did something if he were to drop unconscious. It was then, in my moment of thinking, I could hear a familiar voice I hadn't heard in a while.

"_Kurama_!"

A voice I shouldn't hear on campus.

"Oh my god…" Aiko choked, letting go of the club members' collars as her face paled. They instantly ran from her.

"That voice…" I looked around the room, letting my gaze settling on the windows to see if he was at the front gate.

No, his voice was too close.

"_Where are you?! Come out_!"

"Minamino!" Sorata's begging pulled me out of my train of thought. I backed away from the boy as he stepped closer to me. "Please! Say 'yes', okay?"

"I don't exactly have time for this right now."

"Just say yes, okay?" he continued.

"_Kurama_!"

"Please say—"

Sorata was cut short. Kuwabara shot through the closed door foot first, screaming my name as he rode the broken door in the air before letting it crash down on Sorata from behind.

"There you are!" Kuwabara sighed in relief once his frantic gaze set on me.

"Are you daft, motherfu—"

"Kuwabara," I whispered, cutting off Aiko as she marched to us. "That is not my name here."

"Sorry!" he said with the shake of his head. "It's an emergency."

"Kurama?" one club member asked.

"Who's that? You, Minamino?" the other concluded.

"Ah! Pay no attention," I replied hastily. "It's a nickname. Right? Kuwabara-_kun_?"

Aiko leaned out the room to see if any of our peers were curious of the commotion as Botan ran inside.

"My name is Shuichi here," I whispered. "Minamino, Shuichi."

He nodded, committing it to memory. "Shit. Sorry, man..."

"Well?!" Aiko snapped at the two club members. "What are you waiting for? Sorata's injured, go get help!"

The two jumped out of their skin at her tone and quickly scrambled out of the classroom, yet she was far from satisfied as she eyed the three of us.

"What's happened?" I asked, remembering the bug from earlier.

"Yusuke's been kidnapped!" Botan replied.

"Here!" Kuwabara handed me a note, prompting Aiko to head towards me.

I scanned it quickly and folded it as she approached me.

"Let me see," she said, reaching for the note.

I held it above my head, out of her reach. Her arm returned to her side as she scowled.

"There's only five hours left until eleven. Do you know where Hiei is?" Kuwabara asked as I smelled the unfamiliarity of the letter. "It says we all have to be there. You, me, and Hiei _have_ to be there."

It was human. A human kidnapped Yusuke... Natsume? No. Not her scent. No reason for her to kidnap Yusuke.

"No, I don't know where he is," I replied. "But his contract should still limit him to the tri-city area."

"Let. Me. See," she hissed.

"I guess we should start looking for him." I ignored her and turned to Botan.

"If only he was here, he could use his Jagan to find himself!" Botan groaned.

I found myself laughing hopelessly, shallowly, and Aiko remained quiet—ignorant of the joke and determined to read the letter.

"This sucks! We have no way to find him!" Kuwabara groaned.

"Oh!" Botan clapped excitedly. "The seven detective items! The aura detector was upgraded so we won't have a problem tracking any youkai."

"But how will we know it's Hiei's aura?" I asked.

She grimaced and then perked up again. "No problem! We just need something like a nail or lock of hair and the watch will trace him!"

"Yes, I'll just pull out the lock of Hiei's hair I carry around for good luck," I replied, to which Botan grimaced.

"I don't see _you_ coming up with any ideas," Aiko remarked to me as Botan became frantic.

"We could use some Reikai binoculars to look for—"

"That could take centuries!" Kuwabara snapped.

Botan groaned and held her cheek.

"Do we have _anything_ else?" Kuwabara tried.

"Well… to tell the truth…"

"We don't necessarily need to find Hiei, but call him to us," I tried.

Botan perked up, eyes shining bright. "Itako's whistle!"

"Good," I nodded, figuring it was our last chance anyway. "I'll meet up with you all soon."

Aiko turned around and headed for the door.

"Aiko?" I called.

"I'm going to cancel everything with Isayashi and tell him we're not going tonight."

_We._

"Stay here for a minute, Aiko," I spoke slowly and then turned to Kuwabara with a whisper. "I'll meet you both at the nearby park in about an hour. I need to adjust my human life."

Kuwabara nodded before budging on the broken door that he had yet to move from, and a crippled cry surfaced from underneath. Remembering Sorata, Botan and Kuwabara jumped off the door and quickly sneaked out the classroom.

Aiko lifted the door with all her might and set it against the wall as I briefly tended to Sorata. He was out, and would be for a few more minutes.

"Should we be worried?" she asked dryly, standing over him. "About him, I mean."

I shook my head, reaching behind my head, digging carefully in my hair to pull out a small, dime-sized pouch.

"What's that?" she asked as I broke the plastic pouch open and poured the soft powder over his nose.

With his unconscious inhale, I leaned in and whispered away the last of his memories, replacing the conversation he may have heard with absolute nothing. He passed out after the door crashed.

"This powder is one of the very few things I carry with me throughout the day. For situations like this."

She shifted her weight on her other leg as I stood up.

She spoke before I could open my mouth. "You're not stopping me from going on this."

"No, I'm afraid I am. You're not going."

"I'm not a dog," she laughed bitterly before eyeing Sorata. "You can't tell me what to do."

"Alright," I replied. "What use will you be?"

She recoiled, face apparent with shock. "The same use Botan's going to be!"

She _almost_ had a point.

"Botan has more reiki than you and will be able to use the items to find Hiei."

_Almost_.

"And then?" She crossed her arms over her chest, ruffling the lab coat.

"If something happens, she can relay it to Koenma fastest."

"...And then?"

I sighed. "Aiko, I understand you want Yusuke to be okay, but we don't know who we're dealing with. They are humans who've captured the most recent Dark Tournament champion."

"Even more of a reason to be worried!" she pressed. "What if it's Natsume? That walking mass of evil is my enemy too. I have a right to be there."

I paused, thinking over the possibility again. The letter didn't smell like her but I knew she would be crafty. But this scheme didn't feel like something she was a part of.

"I don't think she'd go out of her way to bring Yusuke into this."

"It could be to lure you," she said. "We're all, technically, harboring you. All of us are legal except you."

"If it was Natsume, wouldn't she want you to come too? Your name wasn't included in the letter."

She let her eyes drop to the ground and thought… She nodded, and though I could tell she was relieved, that didn't stop her.

"Okay but you guys can't do this to me again! You can't leave me in the dark when something goes terribly, terribly wrong! It makes everything worse, especially now that a fucking bug's come through!"

"It may not even be related." The bug could be an important factor, but I couldn't risk entertaining her. "I can't risk putting you in danger—this is the same reason we didn't tell you about the tournament."

"I'm allowed to _put myself_ in danger if I chose!"

"I don't want that on my hands and neither would Yusuke."

"He's my friend—friends put themselves on the line for each other! Friends do what they can for each other."

I sighed, trying to find out how I could work this angle. "He's our friend—let me take the dangerous route and—"

She stomped her foot.

"He was my friend—" She stopped herself instantly from finishing that sentence with the word "first" as it would only further her childish antics. She shook her head, eyes squeezed shut. "You can't do this. Don't fucking turn this into another cross-country journey for me."

"There are too many unknowns, you'd be a liability. Humans who could kidnap Yusuke, an abandoned mansion—"

"What mansion?!" she gasped. "Is the name odd? Like something from a theme park?"

I paused, shocked at her sudden outburst.

"Yes... Tell me what you know about it," I said hesitantly, hoping this wouldn't entertain her belief that she could come along.

"My coworker has house plans to all those strange mansions across Western Japan. They all have weird names."

My brow rose in interest. "Which one do you have?"

"Kagami Mansion!"

I sighed. "Not the one."

"Well, which is it?" she pressed. "He has others!"

I would rather her not be there and risk wandering a mansion alone than have her there and be a liability.

"Aiko, I can't let you go."

"Please…" she paused, and then pulled out her threat. "I'll follow you."

"I'll make sure you won't."

"How?" She squinted in disbelief.

"I wouldn't be happy with doing it, but—"

Her eyes then widened. "You wouldn't..."

"If it kept you out of this, yes."

With pursed lips, she searched my face for what seemed to be minutes, and she sighed as Isayashi's voice could be heard.

"What the hell happened?! Sorata? Are you okay? Hey!"

"Promise me you'll call…" she muttered. I stared down at her, but before I could reply, she spoke again. "If you don't call tomorrow morning I'm assuming the worst and I'm getting _everyone_ involved."

"Everyone?"

"Keiko, Shizuru, Yu's mom... and Shiori."

"You wouldn't tell Shiori," I asserted with a whisper.

"I'd tell her last… after I found out what really happened. She'd deserve to know."

She wouldn't tell Shiori. She never would unless I asked.

"_Hellllooooo_?!" Isayashi called to us as he stepped closer. "What the hell happened?!"

I nodded. "Fine."

"Go…" she grumbled, leaving her eyes on the ground. "I'll handle everything here."

* * *

**Aiko.**

I convinced Isayashi that it was a couple of gang members at the wrong school. They "left immediately" when I threatened to scream for any staff left on campus. He bought it. It wasn't hard to convince the janitors about the door since the other club members weren't around.

Sorata survived with a headache and sore back. In order to make sure the memory erasure worked, I invited him to karaoke with Saito's group. Upset at his unrelenting, unwarranted persistence when bothering Kurama, I held a tight grip around his neck and an even tighter smile as I convinced him I wouldn't take "no" for an answer. He ended up saying "yes" quite enthusiastically.

So far, he hadn't said a thing about what he remembered after being crushed.

Clock now nearing one in the morning, I almost regretted snatching sparkling sake from my work as they sang American hits to help us pass English class and "improve our phonetics." I needed something heavier to deal with tonight. To deal with this entire week.

"I don't know why you hung out with Natsume and her friends last year!" Isayashi laughed at my latest comment. "You're pretty cool."

I shrugged and forced a smile, sipping slowly on the fruity-sweet, bubbly sake.

I spent my first year with Natsume's crew and now that they attended Tohoku University, I was left with the rest of Meiou's population as potential friends. It was only the first week of school but socially, it was nice. I was branching out and spending time with the people I… used to gossip about…

Yet they didn't seem to mind. I was sure they never heard their names in my mouth but I was also sure they knew their names were probably once there. And they were still… nice.

Maybe I was building them up more than they truly were because after spending time with Natsume and enduring constant low blows, it was nice to spend time with people who weren't out to find a way to put me down.

Isobe continued her solo of Betaville's "Forever Young," and we were all waiting for it to end as everyone drank recklessly. Exactly why I picked up "sparkling."

"Isobe," I heckled, cupping my hands around my mouth. "This makes me want to stick a needle in my arm and overdose in a bathroom! Pick a different song. Re-do! Re-do!"

Isayashi me laughed and chanted along as Isobe flipped me off with a satisfied smirk, hitting the singer's notes perfectly.

"I thought Minamino may actually show up." Saito leaned towards me to speak over Isobe. "He never spends time with anyone off campus, so I thought you'd be the one to drag him here."

"Oh, yeah, he—uh," I paused, straightening out a half-truth and resurfacing an unwanted, sharp pang of worry in the back of my mind. "A friend of his got in an accident."

"That's horrible!" Saito gasped.

"He should live!" I reassured her—or really, myself. "Don't worry. They'll both be fine."

"Maybe you can convince him to come with us another day then." She smiled to me, taking a short strand of hair and tucking it behind her ear. "I mean, you guys are like... _friends,_ you know?"

"Well, I never was able to convince him—"

"But you two come to school together and leave together often. You two actually... _hang out_," she said. "I'm sure you can convince him."

"No, you don't understand. Even if I did, he would have found a way out—"

"Okay, enough sugar-coating, I guess." She rolled her eyes and leaned in closer, whispering to me. "Are you two exclusive?"

"Oh," I replied with haste and let out a cackle. "Oh, god. Uh... I don't... know? No?"

Neither of us really expanded on what happened at the bus stop. I didn't think either of us wanted to. Our routine was better than any conversation we could have had about it. I didn't want to push my luck either. Besides, dare I say we were content? I was… very happy to say the least.

He seemed to be, too. I figured if he actually wanted anything more, he'd say something.

She paused and a small frown graced her lips before she pouted. "How can you not know?"

"I'm not good at karaoke, you guys," Sorata chuckled weakly, adjusting his glasses.

"None of us are, Sorata!" Isayashi said, pushing him on the stage.

"But that's what makes it fun!" Saito said, becoming side-tracked and skipping up to the small stage with him. "Here, I'll sing with you!"

"You too, Aiko!" Isayashi called, and then Saito called to me from the stage.

"Come on! A trio!"

I forced a laugh, upset I was finally being pulled up there. I managed to skip out on singing until now. "Oh, no thanks. I'm not drunk enough yet—"

"Let her pick the song!" Saito laughed and made her way back towards me.

"No, really, I'd rather not—"

I wasn't even socially _loose_, and I'd never make it to _lubricated_ on _sparkling sake_.

"Then take a shot and get up there, come on!" Isayashi encouraged.

They began chanting "shots" repeatedly... like it was something that could sway me. I gave in, letting Saito pour me a tall glass, and downed the drink quickly.

Slamming the glass on the table in front of me, I stood from the group couch and made my way to the stage. I wasn't going to make any friends if I couldn't look like a dumbass around them. I wasn't going to get my mind off Kurama and Yu if I couldn't distract myself.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" I laughed as Sorata handed me a microphone.

"Probably," Saito laughed, skimming through songs.

"Hey, hey." I pointed to the screen as she scrolled by artist names. "Look. Komu Komu Club's latest album."

"Nope." Saito smiled teasingly and scrolled past it.

"They even have Chan on here!" I gasped as she continued scrolling.

"Nope."

"The Meatles' entire collection too."

"You want to do the Meatles?" Sorata asked.

"No, my dad would fucking skin me if he found out I went out to karaoke and sang Meatles songs the entire time."

He instantly began skimming again.

"Does your dad hate them because of their _bigger than Jesus_ comment, too?" Saito asked. "A lot of people stopped liking them after that."

"Oh, no," I laughed, waving off the comment. "He believes they're bigger than Jesus. Rumor has it, before I was born my room used to be a Meatles shrine dedicated to the lead singer."

Their laughter made me feel better, like I was beginning to belong among them... as if they actually liked me.

"E-he or Rick Ostley!" Sorata read the two he wanted to pick from. "Oh, look. When In Venice."

"Any of those are fine," I said with a shrug, and Saito nodded.

Saito pressed the button on the remote, letting the beginning of E-he's song blare through the speakers. On the large screen on the wall, Take On Me's music video began playing, lyrics ready to appear at the bottom.

I was _so_ not drunk enough for this foolishness… especially not around new people who I was trying to impress.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled the mic up to my mouth—and was thoroughly relieved to watch the door burst open and someone trip inside. The drum opening of E-He's one hit wonder played as we all stared at the half-unconscious, young adult male that lay sprawled across the floor, sake bottle rolling away from him.

"Should we… should we call someone?" Saito asked, inching towards him.

"Hide the alcohol first," I replied. "Put it under your jacket, Sorata."

He hopped off the stage and ran to put on his flannel jacket and tuck the bottle underneath. I waited patiently as the kids scrambled about to clean up their cups and down the last of their beverage before shoving pieces of gum in their mouths.

I stepped off the stage and made my way to the young man, eyeing him to see if he was alright. He was breathing so...

"We're good!" Isobe called to me as someone stepped in through the open doorway.

"Damn," a familiar voice grumbled.

My eyes shot up from the lying figure to my coworker, Hirogawa.

He shook a bottle of orange juice to unsettle it. "Sorry about that, you guys. I bet he thought this was our room."

"Hirogawa?" I gaped, and my mind instantly clicked. _"Hirogawa!"_

His eyes landed on me as I strode to him. "Hey, Hojo—" I latched onto his arm as I walked past him, dragging him with me outside the room. "What do you want?"

"I need to see the house plans," I said, turning to him as we stopped in the hallway.

Hours had passed since Kurama left with Kuwabara and Botan, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to follow in their footsteps. The last lead I had on them was the mansion. If I wanted to find anything out, I had to head there first.

He ruffled his hair as he thought and then began twisting off the cap of his juice. "Uh—for which one?"

"For… I… don't know…" I paused, disheartened. "Are there any other mansions in the tri-city area?"

"One other, I think."

"Do you have that one?"

"Probably."

"Well, let's find out."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm busy."

I stared at him, wondering why he couldn't just drop everything to get me the plans. I dropped plenty of weekends to scout out that maze. "…With what?"

He wagged the bottle in front of my face gently. "Pre-gaming."

"You can take ten minutes out of your life to pull out the house plans and give them to me."

"We're already late to the party and now I have to haul his dead ass out to the car. I'm busy."

"We're sixteen and doing better than him. Your pre-game is shit."

He didn't need to know the alcohol content was like six percent…

He took a swig from his orange juice. "I came out tonight to have a fun time and I am honestly feeling so attacked right now."

"Just get me the plans and I'll leave you alone!"

"God. Fine," he said with an eye roll. "They're in my trunk still. I never did get around to taking them out."

"Good, you drove here?"

He wagged the orange juice in front of my face again before walking down the hall to the entrance. "I'm the sober one tonight as you can tell."

I stared at him, repressing rage. All that hassle when he just had to walk out to the car…

I followed him, walking past the clerk in the main lobby. We showed our stamps before pushing past the glass doors to enter the chilly April night air.

"I parked over here," he said, digging his keys out of his varsity jacket's pocket and pressing the unlock button.

A Honda Accord's lights flashed briefly and I made a beeline to the vehicle. He pressed another button and the trunk popped open slightly. I heaved the trunk above my head and began digging through his belongings, pushing aside an emergency vehicle kit, boxes of beer, old clothes, and finally, a cardboard box.

I ripped the flaps of the cardboard open to find bundles of blue and yellow papers.

"Which one is it?" I asked.

"I don't know which one you're looking for," he replied, leaning against his car's tail light as I dug.

"Tri-city area," I said, reaching in for one. "Not Kagami Mansion."

"Move," he said, and I quickly stepped out of his way to avoid him patting me on the back or something. "Let's see… tri-city area, huh…"

I waited as he pulled out each print one by one until he took a more intense look at a yellow paper.

He tapped the paper with the back of his fingers. "The House of Four Dimensions."

"This is the one?"

He handed me the papers. "Only other one in tri-city area other than Kagami Mansion."

Kuwabara said they all had to be there, including shrimp-dick, who was on probation to the tri-city area. The mansion had a name like something from a theme park. What better abandoned mansion to use when capturing your enemy than one by an eccentric architect? They _had _to be there.

I inhaled sharply and took it from his hands, wondering how I was going to be able to read this new house's plans. It took me a while to get the hang of Kagami's…

"Thanks," I said as I began folding the large papers to fit in my purse. "I'll give it back to you at work or something."

"What do you need it for?" he asked as I began walking back inside.

"Some people are there and they're in trouble. I need to get over there."

"It's one in the morning. The trains and bus lines are done for the night."

I shrugged as he came up next to me. "I'll walk, I guess."

"You'd get there by dawn from here," he said. "It's in the next city over."

He paused, waiting for me to walk, but when I didn't budge he walked inside before me. I shrugged again and began heading back to my room to bid everyone goodnight.

"Okay… how about I take you?" he offered, glancing over his shoulder.

"You don't need to. Besides, you're _busy_," I replied, stepping foot into the hallway. "I usually walk everywhere anyway."

"Okay, but at night? To another town?"

"Not usually on my agenda but whatever. I've dealt with worse."

"I'll take you," he offered again. "He went to pay for the drinks before bursting in your room anyway. We're headed out."

"To the next city over?" I glanced up to him.

"Well, no. But I'm driving anyway," he said.

Hirogawa, Akito, was _definitely_ a creep. I normally would not take an offer to be in closed vicinity alone with him under any circumstances, but he had a drunk friend to take care of and I had idiots to save.

I sighed. "Do you want gas money?"

"No, I'm going to take some out of his wallet," he replied with a shrug, nodding to his collapsed friend as we rounded the corner into my private karaoke room.

"I thought you guys went to go get someone!" Sorata said when he noticed my return.

"No, we're taking him out ourselves." Hirogawa bent over and reached for his chubby friend, who groaned as he was lifted up on two unstable feet.

"I'm out of here, guys!" I said, making my way to where I was seated.

"Aw, you didn't get to sing, though!" Saito pouted.

"Next time!" I promised, pulling the strap of my cross-body purse over my head. "I'll even _make sure_ Shuichi comes."

"Next time, Hojo!" Isayashi threw the peace sign up as I waved to them all, as Hirogawa pulled his drunk friend over his shoulder.

"I'm going to have you and Isobe learn how to do Pat Beenastar's dance in 'Love is a Battlefield'!" Saito said with a large smile before shimmying her torso. "Next time, you promise!?"

"For sure, you guys. Bye!" I said, to which they all responded cheerfully, easing the embarrassment in the back of my mind.

Minutes later, after collecting his belongings from their private room, Hirogawa shoved his friend in the backseat of his car. As he fell over and took up the entire back seat, I made myself comfortable in the passenger's.

I didn't buckle my seat belt. The possibility of Hirogawa being a complete sleaze was still heavy in the back of my mind and I was willing to throw myself out of the car in a worst case scenario.

"So why are you so hellbent on going there?" he asked as he started his car.

"Idiots are there," I replied.

"Boyfriend?"

"Uh…"

"Boy you like."

I sighed, cheeks tingling from embarrassment. He never met Kurama so I wasn't too worried. "Yeah, and then a few other idiots."

"You're surrounded by trouble, you know that?" he noted simply, to which I scoffed.

"And you're not?"

"Takes one to know one."

"Take me back to the third grade," I called out the cracked window. "I can hear role call now."

"Speaking of being in third grade—don't your parents care where you are?"

"My mom thinks I'm out at karaoke right now." He hummed in response.

"When's your next shift?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh… I think Sunday. Why?"

"If you don't show up, I'll know what to tell the police."

"Yeah, hey, pigs. So like, I took this drunk girl to an abandoned mansion in another city at one in the morning and left her there alone."

_Sparkling _sake couldn't get me drunk after my time with Natsume, but that's what they'd automatically assume so everything could suddenly be my fault. Find enough blame to pin on the victim so they don't have to put much work into the case.

He rolled his eyes, flicking on his turn signal. "Don't underestimate me lying to the police."

I shrugged. "Whatever makes you feel better."

Our drive continued with simpler small talk on quiet roads—how many siblings do you have? What other places have you worked at? Did you see the new movie that came out? Have you heard Kazumasa Eda's new single? What about Chago and Iska's or Komu Komu Club's? My dog ate its own shit today. ...That's pretty cool.

Soon, we pulled up to the corner of the street, and I opened the door quickly, eager to find the boys and see if they were alright.

"Wait! Here," he called after me as I stepped out.

I leaned on the car door as I looked inside again, glancing at the clock to find it was two in the morning. He scribbled something on a piece of notepad paper and quickly handed it to me.

"I'm going to feel like shit if something happens to you, like I brought you here and all. Just call when everything's all right."

I took it and found it was a number.

"Alright." I nodded and shoved the paper in my pocket. "I'll call later. Don't worry."

"If I don't pick up it's because I'm like him," he said, nodding behind him to his friend. "Just leave a message."

"Thanks," I said with a smile before closing the door.

He made a U-turn and drove off, and I quickly walked around the street looking for the mansion. I thought it would be hard to find, with how Kagami looked normal from the outside, but I quickly came upon a tall, wide, run-down building.

This mansion was the difference, an example of how eclectic the buildings were. Kagami mansion, despite being run down with chipping paint, a dead yard, and broken windows, looked normal on the outside. It wasn't until one stepped inside that it was noticeably strange.

This house had just one word to describe it: grotesque.

Its windows and doors were planted in various positions, with only the main entrance safely secured as any other home would have it. The architecture was off, protruding in various areas and slanting dangerously in others, but it stood firm and strong. Some parts of the roof were even turned upside down, or laid at a ninety-degree angle of what it should have been.

This truly was one of the more extravagant mansions in the blue prints.

The home's lawn was over grown with weeds as it hadn't been taken care of in months—maybe even years. I stepped up to the porch and was careful as I heard the wood beneath me creak weakly. Making my way to the cracked open door, I paused to read the writing on the paper taped to the wood.

"Whoever enters this house must never say the word…" I trailed off and looked down at my feet. Was I considered inside when I was on the porch? I was under the roof... I whispered under my breath, barely speaking it. "Hot."

A gust of wind blew past me as I waited for something to happen, yet nothing did. I looked around the empty yard, slightly unnerved. The air was still chilly enough for me to get goose bumps while wearing a cardigan… the fear was creeping up on me and I wasn't even inside.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I stepped inside the mansion that may as well have harbored a heavy cloud. The heat in the foyer was bearable, but the air was sticky. I looked around the dramatized room, noting the red lighting and abundance of bookcases.

But what held my attention was the myriad of healthy plants.

This was _definitely_ Kurama's work… I was at the right place. Maybe they were fine.

I crossed the room gingerly, walking around plants in hopes of not stumbling upon anything carnivorous.

I didn't really know all of what Kurama was capable of, but I figured if he could create and spread these plants that some of them would have a mind of their own if induced with ki. The thought of that reality seemed surreal as I remembered he wasn't human.

It was strange. He looked human, albeit exotic in our nation, that I often forgot he wasn't until reminded, and even now it slipped past me again... It slipped past me even when I used to sit on Natsume's bed and eavesdrop on her conversations with her father.

I knew he wasn't human, yet I never thought about it.

I watched across the dimly lit room as a plant moved on its own... there was no air flow in here. Goosebumps pricked upon my arms despite the heat. I looked around the room again and found a clear hallway, no plants in sight.

Taking what I thought were careful steps up the small set of stairs that would put me out of the foyer, I soon found my boot tug on something—a root of sort?

Gravity took hold and I fell forward, cursing loudly. I smacked face first into the hallway's wood floor, lighting a painful fire in my nose as I spat obscenities loudly. My denim jeans let me practically slide across the floor as I crawled far enough in the hallway to feel safe.

With a quiet whine, I sat on my bottom and dug in my purse to pull out the rolled up print. Scanning the house's layout, I pondered on where to go as I massaged my throbbing nose.

Where would they be if they were still here? If I were a villain and was using this house as my hideout… what room would be best to keep someone captive?

It was hard to say for this house, seeing as how all the rooms were totally unnecessary, just like at Kagami…

That was it! Everything in this house was totally unnecessary! Which room would _be_ _necessary_ for them?

My eyes scanned over the papers once more, taking in each room as the pain in my nose began to dull. The biggest room! The biggest room that could hold people captive, that could house a group of people trained to capture the Dark Tournament's most recent champions and give them space to fight their prey.

I stood up and brushed dust off my bottom.

Even if they weren't here anymore, I could pick up clues along the way to find what's happened so far.

Now to get up there.

* * *

**A/N:**

*** **_Nori_ is edible seaweed used to decorate rice balls.

Jumping right in! No time to waste; no better place to start.

Also I love punning-up band/artist names, even if it's just changing one letter. Inspired by Togashi's "Megallica" to keep the running gag going, even if in my own poor sense of humor. It gives me life. And if anyone noticed, I hate that line too, but I'd be damned if I was going to let it slip through that scene. LOL.

On another note, thanks to _Gimei, OhhTaylorJade, hollyandthediamonds, _and two guests for reviewing the first chapter, and everyone who's decided to tag along through follows and faves. Muah.


	3. Everything Will Be Alright

**A/N: **One of the shorter chapters. I would have put this chapter and the next together, but it would have come out to over twelve thousand words and I wasn't interested in revising that. I already dislike revising eight thousand.

Again, thanks to _hollyandthediamonds, OhhTaylorJade,__ CellophaneCatastrophy,_ and_ YuYuHakushoObsesser_ for reviewing last chapter, and everyone else who's tagged along through follows and faves. Muah. Love ya.

* * *

_**PART II. "Everything Will Be Alright."**_

* * *

_"I believe in you and me. I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night...  
Wrong until you make it right."_

_— Brandon Flowers._

* * *

**Kurama.**

A dreamless sleep, more so of an encompassing blackness accompanied by a sense of faux-unconsciousness.

Sleep was heavy yet fleeting, and always reoccurring. Moments faded in darkness, thoughts drifted in and out, time wasn't real… all created a strange perception of reality. In those brief moments of consciousness, a cursory thought would pass—whether I actually slept—before I returned to the ease of rest.

And in that strange distorted reality, I paid no attention to the familiar voice I heard plenty of times in my dreams… and more so in my conscious life.

"_Shit_!"

I stirred on the cot as a dull sound came to my ears next, half-conscious and paying no real attention to her voice. Instead, in my delusional state, I could imagine the choice of obscenities in order as they came next.

"_Shit, shit, shit, goddammit, shit_!"

With silence following after, sleep reclaimed my body and the darkness was prevalent once more. It was ephemeral, and heavy lids opened again briefly to adjust to the darkness. I closed them again, determined to receive some rest before our trek to Mushiyori.

"Sign of struggle in the big room… electricity somehow turned on… but no other clues."

The cogs in my mind reeled, trying to piece everything together. The voice, the words, clicked instantly. They were not simulated by my subconscious.

"The house isn't destroyed… so maybe they left calmly? Maybe they won…"

My eyes opened quickly as I sat upright in the cot, waking instantly. Soft footsteps trailed down the hallway outside the small room.

I could _not_ believe how obstinate she was.

I reached for my uniform slacks and hastily put them on before heading for the door. The footsteps paused as I opened the door slowly, quietly, as to not catch her attention. I peered down the hall, seeing her small frame outlined subtly in the dark distance.

She looked around the dusty hallway. "Then the question now is… where did they go?"

My palm flew to my face as I heaved a sigh. How on Earth did she find us…?

My sigh caught her attention, and she repressed a squeal as she jumped around to see me. A fading look of relief, and then a tense expression of distrust graced her dark features. I returned her stare with one of patience, waiting for her to react.

"Turn on a light," she said warily, parting her legs, ready to run. "You're hiding your face…"

I paused, confused…

I told her we didn't know what we were up against.

"This lighting is the only available concealer I have at the moment." I hoped she would notice my diction.

She didn't loosen her stance, but began rolling up papers she held to put in her purse.

"Oh? And what would you possibly need to conceal?"

If I didn't answer then this would take longer to end…

With an exhausted sigh, I replied. "These _Dooney and Bourke_ bags under my eyes."

She crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to budge.

"So what's happened?" she asked, looking around the dirty, dark hallway. "You look tired at worst. Where's the scary threat that kidnapped Yu? Speaking of, where's the idiot?"

"What the _hell_ are you _doing_ here?!" His tired voice rang from down the dusty, dark hallway.

She turned on her heels to look for her friend. Yusuke, bearing a more than exasperated expression, stood outside the room he stacked claim on earlier, hunched over. He felt no shame walking around in his undershirt and boxers—though I couldn't blame him. Being woken after the mentally exhausting trial Genkai put us through, and the news we were then dealt, was not settling well with me either.

With a sigh of relief, she ran to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled herself upon him for a tight hug. He stumbled backwards briefly before settling himself with her weight. He was hesitant to hug back and was noticeably irked.

"How did you get here?!" he snapped, more confused than relieved to see her care.

"I told _him_ I had the prints!" she replied, pulled her face away from him. "Nobody wanted to listen to me!"

"You… what…?"

"The prints for this place. The house plans."

"What on earth is all the commotion?" Botan yawned, appearing from behind her door. "It's not dawn yet!"

After rubbing out the sand from her eyes, she took in the sight of Aiko—though she was far from surprised. She shrugged and turned to head back into her room.

"I knew she'd find her way here somehow…"

"Is anyone going to tell me what the hell happened?" she asked as she let her feet return to the ground. "You all look pretty comfy. Having a fucking girl's night? You all cozy up at the fireplace and tell dirty junior high secrets?"

"I will tell you what's happened," I replied, pressing my index finger to my temple and massaging. "And I'll take you home as I tell you."

"No—_no_. Tell me here."

I inched towards her, hands displayed so she could see I meant no harm. "Let everyone get back to sleep. I'll tell you in my room."

"Don't touch me," she threatened, inching away with each step I took toward her and pointing accusingly at my hands. "Don't slip powder up my nose—don't do _anything_."

I paused instantly, locking gazes with her.

"Kurama." Botan's voice carried quietly from her room. "There was a reason I didn't argue about her going with us when Yusuke fought Goki."

Aiko straightened herself, glaring harshly at me. "Do not underestimate me."

"She always finds a way to stick her nose where it doesn't belong," Botan concluded. "Haven't you guys learned yet?"

I inhaled heavily, working the machinery in my head to find a way to leave her in this city.

"How long have you been in the house?" Yusuke asked.

She shrugged, angry eyes yet to leave me. "Maybe a half hour. And I'm not leaving yet."

"Geez…" Yusuke grumbled, shaking his head.

"Fine, I understand." I kept my intonation level, calm. "I'll explain everything, but we should really do this in the room I'm in so to not wake everyone else."

"Everyone else?" She glanced to the other doors in the curving hallway. "Who else is here? Kuwabara, right?"

"I'll tell you in the room."

She eyed me for a while before turning to Yusuke. "You okay, though?"

"I was until I was woken up," he replied, ruffling his hair out of its gelled style.

"Fucking crybaby. No 'wow I'm so glad you care about me, Aiko'?" She rolled her eyes as he cocked his head to the side in disbelief.

"You dragged yourself into danger again and you're madder about how I'm not thanking you for it?" He cocked his head forward, squinting. "You hit your head on your way in or something?"

She waved at him dismissively as she walked to me. "Whatever. Go back to bed then. Rude."

"I know it's a long shot but try to talk some sense into her, Kurama," Yusuke said to me as he stayed put in the middle of the hallway.

Sadly, I couldn't even make a silent promise to Yusuke that I would be able to get rid of her. If I wanted to tell her what was truly happening, even if I did find a way to leave her in the city, she would find a way to Mushiyori. Ideally, it would have been better to tell her everything _after_ we returned from Mushiyori, but here she was.

He leaned his shoulder against the door's threshold, watching Aiko and I retreat into the room I slept in.

I could risk lying, breaking the trust between us when she found out the truth, but I couldn't do that. If the worst case scenario came and the portal opened, I would need her to take our families and get as far away as possible.

She would spend more time complaining to me about how I lied than actually conjuring a plan to get herself to safety. I also did not want that to be the last thing she thought of me if I were to perish in battle.

I would have to tell her the truth and find a way to leave her here. She would be mad at me, though the anger would disappear over time—just in time for her to concentrate on evacuating our families.

Once we entered the room, she walked past me to stand directly in front of the open, curtain-less window to see the lit street below.

As I made my way to the cot that I assumed had been left by squatters that stayed here at one point, I eyed her silhouette, watching her tension disperse throughout the room. I sat at the cot and she glanced over her shoulder to see me as it squeaked with my weight.

"You might want to sit down," I said, and she eyed me suspiciously.

"Promise me you'll tell me what's happened."

"I will. I have to."

She sat on the cot, stiff, at arm's length from me in fear of me drugging her to get rid of her.

"I won't do anything to you," I said quietly. "I promise."

After a few seconds, her shoulders relaxed and the tension disappeared. She did not close the distance between us. Instead, she looked at me, watching and waiting, and I set aside the issue at hand.

I gathered the information in my head to present everything quickly and neatly. My hands found themselves entwined with each other, fingers lacing through and through as I rested my arms on my knees.

"Yusuke was kidnapped by Genkai," I started.

"His spiritual mentor." She nodded.

"It was a ploy to show us what's been happening the past few weeks." When she didn't respond, I continued. "There's a large rift in the barrier, and it's affected some people, given them strange powers. We think it's because the tunnel being created is larger than the ones that form naturally. It's being produced by someone, created."

"That's where the bugs are coming in from..." she mumbled to herself. She leaned towards me, putting her face in my view and letting the fruity-sweet smell of ginger and mango on her breath carry out with her words. "So border patrol should be on it like ants on candy, right…?"

"They have a general location of where it is." I returned her stare. "But they can't do anything about it since they don't know who's creating it. The only way to stop a tunnel of that magnitude is to kill its creator."

She sat up straight, hands clasping together.

"I guess… I guess it's really serious if you're taking the time to explain it to me, isn't it?"

I nodded, and she spoke in one heavy exhale.

"How serious?"

"Reikai classifies youkai's and psychic's strengths in a grading system. E-class is considered the lowest, the ones who can seep through the barriers on their own, like the insects you saw. Then D, C, B, A, and, the strongest, S."

"S-class," she mumbled, voice becoming hollow. "They'll be able to come through, won't they? Them and everyone else…"

I nodded again. "Yusuke fought a B-class youkai in the final match of the Dark Tournament. The entire stadium was destroyed in their fight. Yusuke almost lost his life."

I glanced to her, watching her shut her eyes and control her trembling jaw. She opened her eyes and inhaled before turning to me.

"And what are you all doing about this? Why are you involved and not the _glorious_ Special Defense Force?"

"I'm assuming Enma—the King of Reikai—doesn't want the Defense Force on human ground. If anyone catches wind they're searching for the creator, then there's a possibility the creator may speed up the process, open the portal instantly."

She sneered. "Why would they waste their time opening it however slowly they are now, then? If they could do just open it whenever, why not just say 'fuck it' and let it loose?"

"Some people enjoy the anticipation."

"Sick people…"

"I'm sure Enma still deployed them and are using us as a public display—a distraction to the enemy. If we make all the moves, put the enemy's attention on us, the SDF will just have to sit back and wait until we lead them to the creator."

She sniffed and straightened her posture, remaining silent.

"Do you have any leads?" she asked.

"No, that's what we're doing this morning. We'll be searching for clues in Mushiyori."

"How long until the tunnel opens?"

"It's currently predicted at… a few weeks."

She turned to me, not breaking the posture she was forcing. "What do we do when it opens?"

"If the worst case scenario happens, and I'm incapacitated, you will take our families and get as far away from Mushiyori as possible. Preferably to the States if possible."

Her lips curved into a frown, brows furrowing "And you?"

"Don't worry about me."

Timidly, she crossed one leg over the other and stared at the wall across from us. In silence we sat, watching the dust filter around in the air in the room, floating around the square of moonlight from the window.

These rooms, as the mansion bore many, were left untouched, and dust, animals, and insects roamed in their home freely until tonight when they hid at the first sign of life. Even now, the faint sound of nibbling and scurrying could be heard inside the thin walls and underneath the creaking floors.

Dust covered the floors, scarce furniture, and walls in a paste. Despite its tattered state, it looked natural, as if the architect dreamed it to be this way from the beginning.

Her fingers snaked between my hands and I released my own to guide her palm over mine. She gripped it tight, her entire arm shaking. I paused… before clasping my hand around hers. Her fingers interlaced with mine, and warmth as hot as the color of her nails radiated from her palm and fingertips.

After a few moments of silence, staring down at our hands, she spoke.

"So they put Yu in charge?"

I nodded and she let out a dry, curt laugh. "We're fucked."

"I need you to stay here," I said. "I need you to stay here and plan an escape."

She shook her head. "No, I need to see how bad it is. I need to see for myself so I know what to do…"

"There's a possibility we may run into the creator, and if that happens it may need to be taken care of there."

"I don't care. I can run, I can hide," she whispered, leaning towards me as if to keep Yusuke from hearing. "I know I'm no use in a fight, but I need to see this. I need to assess this and know just how far I'm going to have to run—whether I can tell a lie to our parents or if I'm going to have to tell the truth to get them to leave."

There was still a way to get her out of this trip. Arguing would only be pointless and time-consuming.

"Alright," I said with a nod. "I do need to stop by my house before we leave to Mushiyori."

She rose a skeptical eyebrow at me.

"Don't even _think_ about trying anything funny," she warned, snatching her hand from mine and letting the cold air sting my palm just as quickly. "If Botan gets to go then I do too—that's why she's still here, isn't she?"

"Yes but—"

"If _she_ can go, so can I."

"You're implying she's useless, which she is not. We need her to—"

"I am not. I'm saying—"

"Be careful, Aiko." Botan's tired voice carried through the wood behind us. "The walls are _very_ thin, you know."

Aiko shut her lips, pursed them thinly, and stared at me accusingly.

"We're leaving, Botan," I spoke to the blue haired girl on the other side of the wall as I stared at the brunette in front of me. "We'll meet at the train station when the lines open."

"Roger that," she replied with a yawn.

Aiko stood first, and after gathering my belongings, we headed out of the house. She led the way to the front door, and upon stepping outside, we gratefully welcomed the clear, cool air after spending just a few seconds passing through the heated, tropical jungle I created in the foyer.

I figured I had eased her tension about my threat earlier, but it seemed to mean nothing now that she knew being left was still a possibility.

She stayed just steps behind me at arm's-length for the duration of our walk. After a long while, the street lights flickered off as the sun began to rise in the distance. And then, as the sunrise shaded the clouds and street with a pink hue, she stopped.

"You haven't talked to your mom during all of this, have you?" she asked.

"I haven't." I stopped to look back at her.

"I'm your alibi then." She gestured to me before digging in her purse. "Come here."

When she pulled out a thick, black marker and looked at the back of her hand, I made my way towards her.

"Give me your hand," she said, looking at the back of her own. "Your left."

Holding my hand out, she took it gingerly and let her eyes dart back and forth between the back of my hand and hers—which had a fading, red stamp.

"If she's awake or sees us and asks where you were, at least it backs us up." She uncapped the marker and held her hand next to mine for a reference.

She ran the marker over my hand slowly, beginning the drawing upside-down. The kanji would be a bother to replicate upside-down.

"I apologize." My words caught her attention as she closed the circle.

She looked up at me with tired eyes, lifting the marker from my hand. "For?"

"The threat," I replied. "It was empty, to be honest. Though I understand why you're wary."

"Promise you won't force me to stay behind then."

"I would never resort to physically stopping you."

She eyed me for a moment before closing the distance between us. Her back turned to me as she leaned against my arm to keep steady, her body just inches from mine. Holding my hand to keep it still, she drew the kanji from the stamp inside the circle... and I could smell her faint, lingering scent of cucumber melon.

The wet ink dragged around my hand in the design, and in just seconds of careful drawing, it was recreated. She then darkened her own stamp.

We blew on our ink, letting it set, before continuing down the empty neighborhood street.

As we approached my house, we kept silent, as if my mother could hear us from the second story. The key seemed to click loudly as the door unlocked, and we stepped inside quietly. I hung my uniform jacket on the coat rack as Aiko began taking off her shoes.

"Take a seat," I whispered as I slipped my shoes off. "I'll be down soon."

I had to hurry and leave. She wasn't dense.

As I stepped up the stairs, I carefully watched her from my peripheral vision to see her seated on the couch in the living room. With light feet, I quickly made it in my room without disturbing my mother. Closing the door behind me, I picked out casual clothing that would be practical enough to accommodate me if we ran into trouble. The last thing I needed was the enemy to see me in my school uniform.

Just as I pulled the white shirt over my head, a loud, hollow crash echoed throughout the home. Glass.

Actions registered as it echoed throughout the quiet house. As I stood there, shirt slowly settling over my torso and my mothers footsteps quickly racing down the hallway, I couldn't even feel anger towards her.

I was almost proud.

"Shuichi?" My mother's worried voice carried through the woodwork before she opened my bedroom door to see me slipping on a pair of jeans.

I couldn't repress the smile I wore. "Yes, Mother."

"Is… is someone else here with you?"

I reached in the closet, grabbing the first jacket without much thought. "Yes, Aiko's downstairs."

"Oh," she sighed in relief, hand placed over her heart. "Thank goodness, I thought someone broke in."

"Shiori." Aiko's voice then came next, quieter, from down the hall. "I'm so sorry…"

"Dear, are you alright? What happened?" My mother stepped back into the hall to see the girl.

I tucked my shirt in my jeans quickly to finish changing.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry. I was just reaching for a glass and it slipped and—god, there's glass everywhere. I'm so sorry. I woke you too…"

And the Japan Academy Prize goes to—

"Don't worry about it, dear, I'm just glad you're alright. But I do need to talk to you—you and Shuichi both."

"Yes, Mother," I said, exiting my room as I put on my jacket.

"I'll explain—it's all my fault. Everything," Aiko said hastily. She stuck her hand out, showing Mother the stamp. "We went to karaoke last-minute and I dragged him with us. It's really all my fault. We got so caught up in everything. It was such a party it slipped our minds."

She paused and took Aiko's hand to see the stamp, and then adjusted her view to see mine at my side. She looked between the two of us for a moment before settling her gaze on Aiko.

"Oh…" She almost seemed shocked.

I didn't blame her surprise, as I never spent time with classmates off campus.

"I'm sorry, Mother," I said, dragging her attention to me. "I should have been more responsible."

She crossed her arms over her chest, ruffling her blue nightgown. She inhaled, eyeing the two of us skeptically.

"And I'm guessing you're going out again?" She nodded to our casual attire. "After being out all night?"

She eyed Aiko then, who quickly came with a response.

"Shiori," she spoke with a small smile. "Your son is top in his class. I wanted to celebrate with him."

"You didn't tell me you placed first," she said, a small smile cracking through.

"He's too modest," Aiko replied, repressing an eye roll. "I'm really sorry about everything, Shiori. I just wanted him to have some fun since he worked so hard the entire year."

She sighed, shaking her head. "And where are you two planning to go now?"

"Mushiyori…" she said hesitantly with a small cringe.

Mother's brows furrowed. "Why there?"

Aiko hesitated briefly, letting me cut in.

"The new Pocky store just opened about a week ago," I said before glancing to Aiko. "Pocky-mania?"

The girl nodded, pulling out a sort of half-truth. "Yeah! My friend's dad owns the company and suggested we drop by sometime."

"It's about five stories tall and goes underground as well. It's both a factory and a sort of shop in one."

She tapped her foot against the floor, staring me down with a small smirk. "And what about your club activities today?"

"He can miss _one_, can't he?" Aiko grinned ear to ear, rocking her body innocently, childishly. "One Saturday morning not looking at bryophytes and pterophytes slides won't hurt him, right?"

Mother kept her smile on, eyeing me up and down before hanging her head with a defeated sigh. "I guess not."

Aiko smiled triumphantly, nodding to herself proudly, and my mother quickly raised her head and brought along a reprimanding finger.

"But this will not become routine, Shuichi! It's important for you to have fun, but your studies always take priority!"

I smiled. "Of course."

"And what time do you two expect to be back?" she said before looking around the walls for the clock. I could hear the disbelief in her voice."At five in the morning again?"

"We should be back before nighttime." Aiko shrugged.

"Definitely before nightfall."

My mother rubbed the back of her neck with a tired sigh. "Then go on, you two. Go have fun. Savor it while you can."

I nodded to her, leaning in briefly to peck her cheek, knowing this could be the last time I see her. She rubbed my back and patted my arm, squeezing it gently it before I pulled away to walk down the hallway.

I eyed Aiko briefly, but she stayed put in front of my mother.

"I'm really sorry about the glass, though." Aiko's voice hushed dramatically. "I'll pay for it, just tell me the amount."

"What was it? A cup?" My mother couldn't help but cock an eyebrow, despite her voice sounding less than surprised. "Don't worry about it, dear. Really."

The brunette gave in and nodded. "I really am sorry. I'll clean it before we leave."

"Go on, I'll take care of it. Don't worry," my mother replied, resting her hands on the girl's shoulders in comfort. "It's fine, Aiko. Accidents happen."

The brunette nodded again before saying goodbye and turning to me. As we left the house, she moved the subject to me because it _wasn't_ an accident.

"How much will it cost?"

"It's one cup, Aiko. It's not even a set."

"It was still something I broke," she mumbled as we made our way down the street.

"Not coming will make up for it."

"No. God, you're useless," she sighed, and then shrugged. "I'll just check how much the cups at the mall are or something."

We continued our walk to the train station, and I figured there was no use in fighting it anymore. Even if I were to take advantage of my speed, she'd still end up in Mushiyori through spite and determination. At this point, I figured I was best off letting her in the enemy's territory by my side instead of roaming alone and getting into trouble.

The streets began to wake, with people and cars humming and revving by with ease in the early morning chill. The smell of gasoline, nicotine, and flavored, ground coffee filled the air around us, coming to life again as it had rested and staled throughout the quiet, lonely night.

We passed by a payphone on the flourishing street, and she grabbed my jacket sleeve, tugging me to stop. I turned to find her other hand in her purse.

"I would tell you to go ahead because one of these phone calls is going to be very degrading but I know you'll just head off without me," she said, pulling out some coins. "I need to call before he calls the cops or something, so bear with me."

I leaned against the payphone as she dialed the first number. It went to voice-mail and she left a quick, informal yet reassuring message that she was alive. It was the second phone call that I expected to be unbearable, and just as she addressed herself, a wave of pity washed over me.

Her father's voice snapped through the receiver, crystal clear. She pulled the phone away from her ear. "Are you stupid enough to think you can make off easy after avoiding me and _asking your mom_ to go out last night?"

"I know… But, look, I'm at Shuichi's and we're just going to stay here and study." She put the phone back to her face, shaking her head and mouthing "thank god we don't have caller ID."

"You're stupider than I thought if you think I'm going to let your ass stay out after last night," he snapped.

After the news, which she reluctantly relayed to her parents, that she didn't place above fifty, her father became irate. All the tuition put into Meiou and the cram school that helped place the scores to get in the prestigious high school, and she still couldn't make it past the fifty mark.

She understood his anger and harbored it, accepted it.

"No fucking wonder you placed below fifty, you're a fucking idiot," he said. "Get your ass home. Now."

"But Dad, he placed first in the class… I need him to help me."

"He can help you at home then."

"His mother's sick and he'd rather not leave her alone all day." She looked up to me with a plea for forgiveness for using that card.

"Don't be a fucking burden on them then," he said. "Get your ass home. Now. You can study here."

She curled the phone cord around her finger, her body fidgeting.

"I need his help if I'm going to pass any of the exams…" she whispered. "I couldn't do it on my own last time… I need help. Please let me stay with him today."

"Bull fucking shit," he groaned. "You needed help after winter break and yet you still went out and did your own thing. I thought I could trust you to learn how to manage your studies and social life. Obviously you can't. You're coming home and you won't see daylight until you're twenty-one."

"I tried really hard!" she snapped, eyes reddening as tears pooled in her eyes. "I tried really fucking hard after winter break! Obviously if I can't do it on my own then I need help—why would you deny me help when I need it?"

"You don't want help, Aiko. I'm not fucking stupid. You want to stay out. You know who gets to stay out? Do fun things? People who make something of themselves, and you're not one of those people."

The back of her hand found its way under her nose, hiding her frown as she sniffed.

And though I knew this was my last chance to make her stay, I too was partial to her.

I held my hand out and gestured gently, to which she looked up at me, curious. I gestured again and she removed the phone from her ear and slowly placed it in my waiting palm.

"Hello, Mr. Hojo." I tucked the phone between my ear and shoulder as I leaned against the payphone still.

His voice changed immediately, restrained and formal. "Hello… Minamino."

I stared down at the girl as I spoke, watching her features soften in surprise. "I understand your concern for Aiko running around town with her classmates, but I can assure you we'd be at my house, studying."

I could hear the tongue in cheek tone. "I don't want to put that on you and your mother if she's sick. You should be focusing on her, not my delinquent."

"My mother finds Aiko a delight to have around, Mr. Hojo. Besides, if I'm here taking care of the house, letting my mother get as much rest as possible, then having Aiko here wouldn't be a problem. It would be nice company."

We locked gazes for seconds more as her father paused, knowing this could ruin our routine if we failed to follow through with any compromises.

"I want her home for dinner tonight."

I smiled. "Certainly."

"I hope she learns something from you and is able to raise her scores. It'd be a shame to not see you around after her next exam."

"I'm positive she will raise them," I replied. "She got a head start this week in her studies. She mentioned how confident she felt about a few quizzes we already took."

"I'll see her at dinner then."

"Goodbye, Mr. Hojo," I said as I handed the phone to her.

"Dad?" she asked as she put the phone to her ear. "…Dad?"

She waited for a response, only to be greeted by the dial tone seconds later. She hung up and gently wiped away the angry tears threatening to fall and ruin her day old make-up.

A motorcycle revved at the stoplight, blaring loudly before taking off down the street as the light changed to a bright, vivid green. And with the drastic noise fading down the street, the silence between us grew louder. She stared out into the street, crossing her arms over her chest as she mimicked my stance against the payphone.

The light turned red again, accumulating cars on the road next to us, all humming softly.

"Will you help me?" she asked, eyes watching the stalled cars. "With classes, when this is over…"

I nodded softly, and she swallowed a lump in her throat as she stood up straight. I followed suit as she stepped up to me.

"Thanks," she said somberly, waiting for me to lead the way.

"Don't mention it," I replied.

We said nothing more to each other as we carried on.


	4. (At Least) Between You And I

**Aiko.**

It seemed everyone had the same idea: don't let the enemy see you in your school uniform.

Yu greeted me with a nod as Kurama and I approached the group. He knew I wouldn't let them go off without me, not this time. And so, with a heavy sigh, he reached his hand out to me for a shake, and I sneaked underneath his arm for a one-armed, half-assed embrace I dared call a "hug."

"Why can't you be like Keiko, eh?" he snapped in my ear quickly before letting go. "She knows not to stick her nose in this shit."

"Well, she should learn to," I replied quickly, hushed. "Maybe then your ass would be kept in check."

"Uh-huh." He leaned in again and nodded to the members of the group.

Along with Botan and Kuwabara, there was the familiar face of Genkai, who I only met once, and two younger boys I'd never seen before. Among the two was another, a familiar face—one I saw on campus. Yu, Kaito.

He was notorious in Meiou for his astounding grades and off-campus achievements, and though there was never any real talk of the feud, the student body and sometimes even the staff would often be seen quietly betting on who would score highest on an exam—Yu, Kaito, or Minamino, Shuichi. The fact there were still people betting on Kaito in our second year showed he was a formidable academic opponent.

Despite the glaring sun's rays, I locked eyes with Yu, Kaito. He knew who I was too—unfortunately, not because of my achievements on and off campus (which did not exist).

"Yana." Yu nodded to the first boy who had to invest in ten times the amount of hair gel he did. He nodded to another boy, one with beady eyes and dyed blonde hair. "Kido, and Kaito is someone I'm assuming you know. They're physics, got some strange powers from the tunnel. Kurama tell you about it?"

"Little bit." I nodded. "Anything special?"

"Real special. Not the normal stuff you see from reiki. Like Yana can literally become you if he touches you. Learn everything about you, memories and all."

I bristled.

"Don't worry," Yu whispered. "He's cool. Won't touch you—any of us."

I nodded, convincing myself to trust his word.

"You scouting out the place?" he asked, straightening upright and looking down the tracks, at the freeway that rode along the train. "Planning an escape route or something?"

I nodded again. "You want me to convince your mom too? Tell her? Lie?"

"I'm going to…" He shrugged. "I'm telling her to go up north for a while."

"She knows?" I asked. I wasn't surprised, because surely she should have figured something out by now with how often he disappeared.

He nodded his head side-to-side. "Eh… kind of. She may be drunk all the time but she's not an idiot, you know? She knows _something's_ up."

The announcer's automated voice spoke over the loud-speaker above, announcing our line's arrival. Just seconds later we could hear the train roaring against the wind, heading towards us at a dangerous speed on the tracks.

We were first on the car and I seated myself promptly. I was sure when the new faces noticed I fell asleep during the ride they would take advantage to ask why I was there.

Which someone in the group, most likely Botan, would surely reply. "We kind of just accept it at this point."

I didn't trust Kurama when we were at his home, as he was surely going to slip out his window undetected, but I knew I could rest here. I trusted him to not leave me on public transportation—a train of all places.

He didn't.

He nudged me off his shoulder, waking me up, and I restrained myself from rubbing my eyes as we stepped off the train and into Mushiyori Station. The building was crowded on the platform, and when we stepped into the lobby it was still bustling with people for the early morning rush. I kept pace with the red-head next to me, and as we closed in on the main entrance, with the blinding daylight shining through from outside the glass doors, he leaned closer to me with a small whisper.

"Brace yourself."

I didn't pay his words much mind as we stepped through the automatic doors and into the morning. When my pupils adjusted to the immediate change, my surroundings were clear.

The flurry of youkai bugs flying around the city was sickening, and I was _pleasantly_ reminded of the incident at Sarayashiki. My breathing quickened and I began blindly digging around in my purse for anything to calm me, eyes still locked on the swarm of bugs. A bottle of water or—there we go. I had no qualms throwing three days clean down the drain.

I fumbled with the box of Cupids before shoving the cancer stick in my mouth and frantically searching in my bag for a lighter.

"We're fucked," I hissed to Kurama, who watched me pull out a zippo.

"These bugs aren't here to take control like the last time," he reassured me, pinching the cigarette with his fingers and pulling it from between my lips before I could light it.

"You mean to tell me with the entire city of Mushiyori like this, there's not one bug that's taken control of someone?"

I quickly scanned the people passing by us on the streets for signs of violence—for signs of complete hostility. Nobody seemed to be taken over by the parasites, at least not at first glance.

"They're different," he said promptly, flicking the cigarette on the cold concrete below us and grinding it with the heel of his shoe. "They're not being controlled."

Though it was reassuring, the sight was still… chilling.

"Alright, we're splitting up," the old woman's voice broke through my fear and dragged my attention to the group. My eyes searched for her and I eventually found her near Yu's hips. "One group is going with me to find anyone involved. The other is to scout the city for the tunnel and see how far along it is."

We stood at attention, away from the entrance to Mushiyori Station and off to the side as she eyed our group.

"Yusuke, Kido, and Yanagisawa are with me."

"Hey! Any particular reason why I'm not going?" Kuwabara asked.

"Because your reiki is gone," she replied bluntly, to which Kuwabara puckered his lips briefly in a frown. "You may be able to fight but as you are it will be no match for anyone we may come against. You're better off with this group anyway."

He shrugged and spoke low, to himself. "Feels just like being picked last for sports."

"Use your strength to protect this group," Genkai said.

Kuwabara frowned but nodded as he shoved his hands into his varsity jacket's pockets.

"Kaito will accompany you. His territory could come at an advantage if necessary."

I wondered what Kaito's territory could do as Meiou's Number Two nodded, understanding his orders.

"Kurama's best suited to search for the tunnel, and his abilities to strategize and fight are needed among you."

Kurama nodded then as well.

"Botan will serve as our messenger, as she will be able to travel between us the fastest, or to Reikai if need be."

Botan smiled and stuck her fingers to her head in salute, and Genkai then turned to me, with a more than expressionless face.

"And you."

"I'm here on personal business, and there's not much to me," I said, trying to sound as polite as possible. "So I don't know if you'd really be able to give me any orders… uh, but I'll follow whatever you give me…"

"You have a knack for pushing yourself into trouble, so maybe if we're lucky you'll land smack dab in front of the creator," she said plainly, and I held back a forced, throaty laugh. "You have no real reason to be here otherwise, so do whatever it is you have to do and try not to jeopardize anything."

I nodded slowly.

"Besides, you've got some meat in your head if you've been able to track us down twice. Apply that brain power to this and try to make use of yourself while you're here."

I nodded again, already feeling down about the order as I was paired with fucking _Kurama, _who at this rate was Japan's Brightest, and Yu, Kaito, our prefecture's number two child prodigy.

The two smartest students in Meiou for a reason. I was no match. I shouldn't complain; I knew I had no other reason to be here.

I had to remember I was here to assess the damage of Mushiyori and the potential issue that could erupt. And just being here less than five minutes already made me aware of how serious the issue was. I may not be useful to her, but to Kurama and our families, I would be.

"When you're all done with your scouting, come find us. It shouldn't be too much a problem with Botan in your group and a communicator between us."

"Won't be!" Botan replied proudly with a nod.

With that, we split up, letting Kurama take the lead.

While I could see the youkai flying around town, latching on people, or seemingly minding their own business in the air, I had no idea what a tunnel felt like. If it was anything as creepy as the feeling these bugs gave me, then I was glad I didn't know what I was looking for.

Kurama knew, though.

"So you're looking for the source?" I asked Kurama.

He nodded. "Where it's the strongest. That's where the creator should be."

"You're in chemistry, Hojo, you should know at least the basics of this. Think of heat," Kaito said from behind me. "I guess the simplest way to explain it is..."

His tone was obviously neutral but I couldn't help but feel like he was speaking to me about this like because he was a geeky little snob and he saw my placement on the roster in the hall. I wanted to make a rude remark, but seeing as how I was here uninvited and served no use other than my own, I figured I should take the stupid lecture with a zipped-closed mouth.

"Like a campfire on a cold night. The source of the heat is the strongest, and its warmth is emitted outwards, towards the cooler temperature. A gradient."

I couldn't keep it shut for long. At least I was tame.

"I'm going to have war flashbacks of that class. Stop." I looked to Kuwabara before anyone could react to my tone. "So… if you had control over your reiki, then you'd be able to look for it?"

Kuwabara paused, surprised, but then nodded. "Yeah, normally if I just concentrate I could feel something's off. But I can't feel a thing! I can't even see any of these bugs Botan's complaining about!"

"You're lucky, Kuwabara, this is absolutely disgusting!" Botan seethed, waving around a fly swatter she magically pulled out of her purse to keep the bugs at bay. "Then again, I think I'd rather see them than not know they're touching me."

On cue, I waved off a bug that landed on Kuwabara's broad shoulder.

Kaito was next. Though I wasn't too keen on talking to him, I wanted to know I wasn't alone.

"Can you feel it? The tunnel." To which he shook his head in reply. No. "Botan?"

"Somewhat," she replied. "I couldn't search for it like Kurama is but if I was near it I'm sure I'd be able to feel the presence."

At least I wasn't alone.

* * *

We headed out of the heart of the city and into the suburbs. The sight of cozy homes and corner stores were short-lived, and we followed Kurama into the outskirts of Mushiyori.

The youkai bug epidemic that manifested in the city was slimming here; it was close to none.

Grass and trees were plentiful, though since we were just coming out of cold weather the grass was still greening. There was a dirt path we found that lead us up a mountain, into forestry. The path we walked on was untouched spare the small prints from wild animals that ran around days or weeks ago when the ground was wet, leaving various prints in the hardened dirt.

"Are you guys sure we should be going _up_ a mountain?" I asked, trekking behind Kurama. "If it was all the way up here then wouldn't Reikai already know where it is?"

"It does seem odd to place a tunnel on higher ground," Kurama noted in front of me. "But the presence is definitely increasing as we continue this way."

"If we don't find anything, we can always go back down and search around the mountain," Kaito suggested from the back of the group.

"Can't Botan do a quicker check flying around?" I looked over my shoulder for the blue haired reaper.

"I don't think I should be flying around so close to the tunnel," she said. "What if the creator or his friends are here? I don't want to give us away."

"True." I nodded.

"We'll decide on something if we don't find anything when we reach the strongest area," Kurama said.

When we left the forestry, the path turned to flat land and died, muddling into broken grass patches. Our view of the deserted grassy plane was eerie, completely unsettling. There were no bugs in sight.

"This is it," Kurama mumbled, slowing to a stop in front of me.

I looked around at the empty scenery, finding what could have been a few relatively large shacks in the distance. Other than that, nothing but greening grass as far as the eye could see and the curving hill of a mountain heading higher into the sky.

Where was the tunnel?

I turned on my heel, looking over my shoulder to see the city in the distance. From here, it was as if the city was surrounded in a dirty haze, one visibly moving…

Why would they all be out there and not here, closer to the tunnel where they came from? …Because there was a food source out there.

The realization churned my stomach, and I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Are you sure the tunnel's here?" I asked, looking back to Kurama. "Am I missing something? Can I not see it?"

"I figured it was just me. It seems like a… common vacant lot," Kuwabara mumbled. "I'm sure the tunnel isn't in that shack in the distance…" He looked around, just as confused as me. "There's nothing here?"

"Do you think you latched on something else, Kurama?" Botan suggested. "I mean, this _is_ the area Reikai mentioned it should be in but…"

"You sure the guy's in the center of this tunnel?" Kuwabara asked.

"I wasn't picking up a person's aura; I was picking up Makai's presence," Kurama replied. "If I was picking up on his aura then naturally he would be in the center of the expanding tunnel. So either way..."

"Then what the hell?" Kuwabara grumbled, looking around the scenery.

"Regardless of who or what we've found, if we can't find it on the surface…" Kaito's words clicked in all our heads instantly, letting us finish the sentence together. "It's underground."

If it's underground then… those probably weren't "shacks." What could they be...? I stepped forward in the grass, away from the group, and felt the few yellowed weeds crunch underneath my boots.

I gasped in both excitement and realization, feeling the revelation hit me like a ton of bricks.

"What?" Botan asked.

"We're at a nature conservation area!" I grinned. "That's why there were animal prints on the dirt path and why there's a _cave_ here. Those shacks are probably garages for security and fire patrol."

"Okay I know figuring we're looking for a cave now is important but," Kuwabara said. "I don't get why you're excited to know this is conservation area."

"Because if we're forced out of here by the enemy, then we don't _have_ to come back right away—to find its location, I mean. We'd be able to find it at a local library. There's _caves_. This is a nature conservation area for exemplary landforms and _geological sites_. It'll be listed!"

"Yeah but if there's more than one cave, it'll be harder to pick which one it's in just from reading about them."

"Would it really be smart to plant a tunnel at a nature conservation area?" Kaito asked. "There's patrol that scouts the area every so often to make sure the wildlife are fine. There's also students, and private and government employees that come down to sites like this to do research and studies."

"As for patrol, the land could be privately owned," Kurama replied. "During off-season when the weather is too cold and most wildlife is hibernating, the security is more relaxed."

"As for students…" I paused, crossing my arms in thought. "The cave has to be something that nobody finds interesting or doesn't have anything worth researching."

Kaito hummed to himself, looking out across the grass plain. "Something's not right. I don't see why nobody would go to a cave for research, especially one that's so winding and large that it could hold such a dangerous tunnel."

"You're right…" I mumbled begrudgingly.

"Let's check out the area anyway!" Botan suggested. "See if we can find any caves and give them a look around."

"Getting too close to the enemy may be dangerous," Kaito said. "Plus a cave is a good place to hide a body—especially if it's deep."

"Yeah we definitely need to be more careful up here," Kuwabara said, looking around the plain. "I'm already getting a bad feeling about this place."

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking around the plain. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Let's just go look at those garages, maybe they have a name on them or something."

"We'll look up the conservation area at the library another time," Kurama said suddenly, turning back around to face the city our hill hovered over. "We should head off to see Yusuke's group."

My brows furrowed. "But… we're already here. Are we really going to turn back now after taking like over an hour to walk here?"

Even Botan looked a bit skeptical, but with a small huff she began digging in her bag.

"I brought along some detective items," she whispered to me before pulling out a familiar golden ring. "Here."

She shoved the small ring in my hand, and I remembered it instantly. Hard to forget something you saw when you were sure you were going to die…

"Why?" I whispered, keeping the boys attention to themselves.

They stood behind us, talking about where to possibly find Yu's group.

"Worst case scenario, I need to leave and contact Reikai, leaving you as our last resort," Botan replied, hushed as she gripped me by the arm and pulled me away from their group quietly.

"Gee, thanks," I scoffed a laugh. "I love being important."

"They're acting weird and I trust Kuwa's instincts," she replied, serious expression far from budging. "You need to learn how to use this. You're the only one here who doesn't have a means to protect themselves. Even Kuwabara has his brute strength without his reiki."

"Then… what do I do?" I hesitated, looking down at the strange ring.

"I have to warn you that once you use it, you'll definitely pass out," she said. "You remember what it did to Yusuke's reigun? That's what will happen. It increases the strength of your reiki ten times. Aim right and you'll kill your attacker. You may pass out but you'll at least live…"

I swallowed the lump in my throat at the thought of killing someone. I thought again of Goki. I could still remember the way his head tore apart...

"Slip it on," she ordered, and I did so, feeling the cold gold slide down my index finger. "Now there's plenty of ways to go about this but… I think this way would be best."

I waited patiently for her to start, staring at my finger and how tacky the ring looked on me. The fire-red manicure and this stained gold clashed in all sorts of ugly ways—and red and gold were supposed to look cute together. Step up your fashion game, Reikai. This was the twentieth century.

"Concentrate on your finger tip," she said, but as I replied with a small "uh…" she sighed. "Okay… you know that _feeling_ when you see a ghost or youkai? That otherworldly presence that pressures around you?"

I nodded.

"Your reiki is being put to use when you pick up on otherworldly beings. Enough to make you aware of their presence. If you remember someone you saw then your body will remember the reiki it used to see them and will recreate a similar amount."

"Uh… is there any other way for me to learn how to channel reiki?"

She cocked her head to the side, humming in thought. "Yeah, but I think this would be the easiest way right now, especially with something that will magnify your reiki ten times its normal amount."

I frowned and stared down at my finger tip, and before I was distracted by the pretty color of my nails, I remembered what it was like to see the ghost at the shrine after New Year's.

She was radiant, elegant. Beautiful. It was strange to see her. _Off_. I could only remember why nobody seemed to pay attention to her when she was so obviously incandescent.

"Now channel that feeling to your finger," she instructed. "Just test it, don't let it go."

Channel...? I closed my eyes, concentrating on the idea of seeing her again, pushing any and all feeling to my hand. I remembered the way she had this radiance to her, the way she seemed to glow...

I could feel a shift—a shift _in me_. I opened my eyes. A small pressure around my body moved slowly, both from underneath and atop my skin in a smooth sequence. My being, a part of me, traveled to the base of my hand and toward my finger.

A spark—a pale, lustrous blue—emerged, traveling from the base of my finger where the ring resided to the tip of my nail. In an instant, it sparked off and disappeared into thin air.

Mouth agape with wide eyes, I turned my vision to Botan, who was gleaming with a bright smile. I felt a little tired but it was manageable. Really, all I wanted to do was yawn and sit down for a moment to regain some strength, but I was fine otherwise.

Again another spark emerged from the ring, crackling and spreading up my finger.

"Yes!" she said excitedly yet hushed, and quickly grabbed me by the shoulders. "But remember! You only get one shot. Your reiki is too low to use this again, so you'll pass out if you fire even _one_ shot."

Excited, I channeled the reiki again to my finger, letting the sparks crackle on and on. If I wanted to shoot, I just had to concentrate harder, recreate what Yu did.

"Don't let your reiki go!" she said quickly. "You'll wear yourself out if you do!"

I stopped immediately, watching the reiki disperse into the air around me, feeling nothing but excitement and that I could use another nap sometime this afternoon.

"What are you doing?" Kuwabara asked, hovering over Botan's shoulder.

"Just preparing for the worst!" Botan laughed nervously, shoving my hand to my side to put it out of sight.

Kurama eyed my hand with little interest. "You think she should be given that?"

"I'm not _giving_ it," Botan said. "Just… letting her use it while we're here."

"He's just mad someone else can save the day now." I placed one hand on my hip before flipping my hair over my shoulder.

"You'd probably blow yourself up using that," Kuwabara noted.

"Shut up." My face fell. "Whose side are you on here?"

"We should get going," Kurama said, breaking our bickering. "Botan, you have the other communicator right? Try calling Yusuke's group."

"Alright," she said, pulling out the familiar pink compact I remembered.

As the compact beeped softly in our group's silence, I stared out past the grass and into the city below, watching the dirty haze above the city float around, flourish in a slow, fluid movement like a fog. A heavy miasma, a promise of death's arrival. The disgust I felt at the sight struck a deeper cord in the depths of my heart, resurfacing a familiar fear in me and erasing my lingering excitement in the same moment.

Despite the state of this city, nothing was being done about it. Any psychic in their right minds knew their words meant nothing to the public, and if they had any sense they would have packed up and left a long time ago.

Because nobody in their right mind would heed their warning… the warning of an apocalypse. Nobody would, not even my parents. And as I watched the grass in the distance move slowly as if pushed by the wind, the same cord was struck again, harder.

I would have to lie. Lie about something _this_ serious, involve others… I remembered the last time I lied to save a Hojo. I didn't think we ever really moved on. I always wanted to believe they knew I was lying, deep down.

But this time, if they found out I was lying… I could consider myself disowned. But I had to lie because there was no way they would believe this mess.

I shook the memories away and figured I could put the escape route aside for now. I could think about it when the disgust wasn't manifesting deeper, stronger, and clouding my judgment.

I inhaled heavily. The air up here was still, calming. I was becoming impatient with the group as they decided about how they were going to find Yu's group.

Wait. The air was still.

There was no wind.

Cautious from Kuwabara's words, my eyes darted back to the patch of grass that shifted just moments ago. Not another patch of grass had moved. Probably an idle animal… this was a nature reserve after all.

Eyes too lazy to move from the spot, I took a deep breath and thought about what Yu's group could be up to—if they found anyone.

Kuwabara and Kaito walked past me with Botan trailing behind them. I stayed put as they stepped on the dirt path.

Kurama placed himself next to me, whispering. "Do not stare; it's not wise to let them know we're aware."

It took a moment for me to put the pieces together, and chills ran down my spine like a tidal wave.

"That's not funny," I hissed. My eyes darted away from the grass, frantic to land anywhere else but finding nowhere safe.

"I'm not joking," he replied.

I forced my gaze to settle on the city below as we began walking.

"Walk ahead of me," he said quietly, and I nodded. "Stay in front, in sight."

My heart throbbed in my throat as we stepped back into the forest. I could take a human. Well, I had a better chance with a human. But one with a "territory"?

I'd be fine… I had the ring.

Throughout the walk, I would check over my shoulder, worried they were following us. After the umpteenth time I glanced over my shoulder, Kurama's hand hovered in front of my eyes, blocking the view over my shoulder.

"Is he following?" I whispered, returning my eyes to the path.

"No," he replied calmly, and I sighed in relief.

Our attention turned to Botan as she sighed. "Second time I tried. Nobody's picking up the communicator."

"Does it run on batteries?" My question was merely hopeful.

She shook her head and debated on what to do. As we continued deeper in the forestry, she turned to us with an announcement.

"I'll do a quick scout of the city for them!" she said with a forced, cheerful smile. "I'll be back in a jiffy."

It was shocking, as none of us saw it coming. We expected the oar to materialize by her side. Instead, her physical form dropped unconscious, scaring Kuwabara out of his wits as he lurched over to keep her body from collapsing to the ground. He grabbed the collar of her sweater in time, practically choking the body as her soul separated from its shell, emerging gracefully, easily.

I watched her floating in midair; I couldn't hide the apparent shock on my face, and neither could Kuwabara or Kaito. Kurama, however, didn't seem fazed as an oar materialized next to her. She smoothed her kimono underneath her as she sat on it and flew into the sky.

She too had a beautiful glow...

Kuwabara heaved Botan's shell of a body over his back, carrying it with him as we continued down the path. When we neared the exit of the woods, Kuwabara spoke.

"Hey, Kurama." He looked over his shoulder to us. "Is anyone following us? I had a bad feeling back up there, it went away but..."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, anticipating his reply. They could have seen Botan leave and figured she may bring someone back, and it was better to get us when we were all together. I was almost trigger-happy at the thought, ready to aim and fire.

"Their presence disappeared long ago," Kurama said, and I sighed in relief. "We ought to assume they left us and went to check Yusuke's group."

"Urameshi, eh?" Kuwabara mumbled to himself, hiking Botan's body up as it began to slouch over. "They could be in trouble."

"This is Urameshi we're talking about," Kaito reminded him.

Kurama nodded. "Genkai is also with them. For now, I wouldn't be too worried."

I said nothing and turned my attention to the path we were walking. It was on cue that we stepped out of the forestry and into the suburbs of Mushiyori that Botan's flying body could be seen barreling at us on her oar—full throttle.

"I don't know where they are!" she called. "They're not on the streets!"

A few yards from us, she hopped off her oar and continued to glide closer to us before stopping in front of Kuwabara. She hovered inches off the ground as she waited patiently for her body.

After a few seconds of everyone waiting quietly, Kuwabara finally took her body off his back and held it up for her so she could reenter. And like the body was just sleeping, the minute her soul disappeared inside the shell, her amethyst eyes opened.

"So they're inside somewhere," Kurama noted to Botan as she stood on her own.

Botan nodded. "I'm worried though. I wouldn't be if the communicator was working…"

"Let's not worry too much about it," I offered, though even I wasn't too convinced.

If we were being watched then Yu and his gang were _definitely_ being trailed.

"We should walk the city, look for them," Kaito said.

Everyone agreed, and we set foot into the bug infested city. Botan, again, pulled out a fly swatter, and I stayed close enough to her for protection.

* * *

Everyone continued complaining about the bugs, and though I hated seeing the little monsters, I didn't want to drudge up old memories that were better left in the corner of my brain, collecting dust. I stayed relatively quiet on the subject. Kuwabara was upset that he wasn't able to see them still, but Botan and I hastily reminded him with each complaint that it was better he couldn't see the disgusting bugs floating around.

By now, back in the heart of the city, the sun was high in the sky. The boys looked around the streets for Yu's group or anyone suspicious while I was more preoccupied on the state of the town. I was only drawn out of thought when I heard a familiar wailing.

Having heard it plenty of times during my short high school career, I perked up instantly at the sound of sirens. I looked around the crowded streets for the tell-tale black and white car, and saw it barreling through the horde of bugs down the street.

It passed us by in a hurry, prompting worry in Botan and I.

"You think something's happened to Yusuke's group?" she asked, voice clearly laced with suspicion.

"We're in a huge city, maybe it's not even related," I said.

"Well, we shouldn't be too worried," Botan said with a reassuring smile. "Genkai's with them."

"Regardless, I don't think we should be idle any longer," Kurama said, and Botan was the first to take off running.

The group headed after the blaring cop car, and I knew I was the only one thinking to myself how this was the first time I wasn't running away from one.

I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon and I was running on maybe two hours of sleep. I wasn't going to be able to keep up with them—not to mention I had used the ring and that had been a tad draining.

Botan led the way as we ran through the suburbs of Mushoyori, and though I fell behind, and was wheezing loudly thirty seconds into the run, I was able to follow. We lost sight of the car long ago, but we were graced with another clue as we rounded a street corner.

Botan stopped to see the ball of reiki that shot into the sky, parting clouds as it traveled up.

I would have to be an idiot to not realize what that was, especially when I was right next to it almost a year ago when it tore apart a head.

"Yu's reigun!" I said, coming up behind Kurama.

Kurama grit his teeth, running towards where the ball came from. I made it to the hospital Kurama led the way to without passing out. I waited in front of the hospital's front gate, breathing heavily and reading the stone print on the main entrance's wall.

Daikyo Hospital.

...And no cop car. I would have boasted about being right but following it led us here.

I turned my attention to the hospital itself. It was so quiet... it was silent. Hospitals were never _silent._ There should be ambulances making their runs, people walking in and out. Hell, even a ghost should be here somewhere.

That wasn't the entire gist of the issue, though. The atmosphere surrounding the hospital was eerie, uninviting. A thick pressure in the air, humidity.

Kuwabara was the first to head towards the entrance. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Wait." Kurama grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What?" Kuwabara asked as I scanned the windows.

Nobody was walking around. It was like the building was completely deserted.

Kurama eyed the windows. "It's strange. It's too quiet."

"Now that you mention it… it _is_ pretty quiet," Botan mumbled.

"What are you talking about?! Hospitals are typically kept quiet!" Kuwabara pointed out.

"Yeah but… I don't even see anyone… walking through the halls…" I said, out of breath still.

"So…" Kuwabara trailed off, catching on but still not sure why he couldn't just go in and help.

"You don't get it at all, do you?" Kaito said.

Kuwabara and I glanced over our shoulders to the child prodigy, side eyeing him so hard our eyeballs threatened to fall out their sockets. Tensions among us may have been high but I wasn't the only one taking personal offense to Meiou's Runner-Up's tone.

"What?" Kuwabara all but growled at him.

"If that was Urameshi's reigun and we haven't seen any other action since…" Kaito explained. "Something's wrong."

"Thank you, Sherlock," I hissed. "We would have never figured that out without your help."

It wasn't that Kuwabara didn't know. It was that Kuwabara didn't _care;_ they needed help so he wanted to help.

Kuwabara lifted Kaito off the ground by the collar of his jacket, and at that point I had to restrain myself from vocally encouraging him.

"What of it?!" Kuwabara yelled, lifting the school boy off the ground.

"This is someone's territory," Kurama said, calming Kuwabara, who I secretly wished would keep going. He dropped Kaito, who stumbled to his feet upon landing. "It's the enemy's and we don't know its rules."

"You can't tell what he can do just from being near it?" I asked, turning to Botan. Probably a dumb question but...

She shook her head. "No. So it's not wise to just go in inattentively."

"Yes, especially with Kuwabara not having any reiki," Kurama said.

Kuwabara practically fiddled his thumbs at that point. "When you put it that way…"

"You all stay here," Kurama said, and looked down at me specifically. "Don't do _anything_ until you hear from me." His attention then turned to Botan. "I'm going to check things out."

I opened my mouth to say, "I wouldn't follow you into something dangerous!" But I'd proven plenty of times before I would, so I pursed my lips and let my arms fold over my chest.

I watched as he ran for the entrance, pushing away the thought of having to tell Shiori some obscure lie about her son's death. I wanted nothing more than for him to change his mind and return to our side… but someone had to check on Yu's group.

It wasn't until his feet left the ground, pushing him into the air, that I was reminded of who—or _what_—he really was again. A vine extended from his hand, a vivid bright green, and elongated. He aimed it wildly, though obviously knowledgeably as it latched on the chain link fence that stood on the roof of the hospital five stories up.

I was reminded again of something I paid no attention to due to his human façade: I was emotionally, _romantically_, invested in a youkai.

Why did I disregard that reality? Something like that was _really_ something to think about when investing yourself in someone. I always knew what he was—he told me, showed me. I saw the way he could control plants; I spent time eavesdropping on Natsume's conversations to see when her father would be in town to protect him.

It was this strange cycle. Remember, revel in brief shock, and then easily disregard.

But watching him landing on the roof gracefully and disappearing seconds later… I would be lying if I said at this point I wasn't curious about him as a _youkai._

"I hope they'll be okay…" Botan said aloud, mainly to herself.

I eyed the windows again, searching for anyone moving. Why was there nobody there? Where was everyone?

"Do you think anyone who enters disappears?" I asked.

Botan shrugged. "Everyone's territory is different… so maybe. The territories definitely have their way of harming people if you break the rules."

Rules? "Like… like that sign that was left on the door of the mansion?"

"That was due to my territory," Kaito said. "I call it Taboo. If you say the word I chose in my territory, I can take your soul."

I tried controlling the shiver of fear that ran down my spine to no avail.

"And you can make it go away by choice?" I asked, coughing to clear my throat. "I said 'hot' when I entered and nothing happened."

"Either by choice or when you're knocked unconscious," Kaito replied. "Or killed."

I paused, watching the quiet hospital.

"Should we really just wait here?" I asked. "It feels so wrong to just sit here and wait for them."

I knew I couldn't do anything—but one shot. One shot if I aimed right. One shot to save them.

"We really shouldn't go in," Botan pressed.

"I'm with Aiko," Kuwabara said. "It feels wrong."

"We can't do anything!" Botan said. "We don't know anything about the territory and it'd be dangerous to walk in blind. The last thing they need is to be in a position to save us."

I stared down at the ring on my finger, wondering if I would be lucky enough to get one shot in. If they didn't come out soon, we'd have to go in eventually—we couldn't leave them here. I pushed aside the thought of a ball of reiki tearing someone apart, justifying the action as self-defense.

"Yeah, but it feels so wrong," Kuwabara mumbled. "Being useless out here when I could be helping—or _knowing_ what's happening at least!"

Glass shattered, provoking silence from us. We waited patiently, hoping to see someone run by the windows, come from the entrance. But nobody showed.

"Maybe it's from the back," Kuwabara mumbled, eyeing the windows as feverishly as I was. He groaned and stomped the ground, kicking rocks. "Damn this sucks. Being left out of the loop."

The minute those words left his lips, the atmosphere around us shifted subtly. The eerie feeling, the humid-like pressure, both gone instantly.

"It's down!" Botan said, and I was the first to move my legs towards the main hospital entrance.

I wasn't really interested in running, but knew I had to if I wanted to see how they fared.

Wary of our surroundings, unsure of how many enemies were in the hospital, I channeled reiki to the ring again. The small crackles could be heard under our footsteps as we entered the hospital.

Stepping inside, our eyes hit the ground. Everyone was on the floor, struggling and coming to as if they'd all been passed out the entire time. Staff and patients groaned as they struggled to sit themselves upright, but we had no time to check on the public.

The police would be here soon to do that as someone with enough strength would call them. We needed to get out of here. We weaved through the hallways, looking for Yu or Kurama, even Kido, Yana, or Genkai would have been a relieving sight.

Luckily, we found Yu first. He was standing at a broken window, staring out into the back parking lot. Behind him were Yana and another male, both struggling to help themselves up from the floor.

I slowed to a stop, relief washing through me at the sight of everyone alive. I stopped channeling, letting my reiki return to equilibrium in my body.

"Hey!" I called for his attention, relieved to see him alive.

He paused, face changing from a somber relief to one of surprise. He turned to us with an appreciative smile on his face.

"What in the world is going on here?!" Botan chided as I strode forward.

I looked around our small group. Someone's missing. Who's missing? Yu's didn't seem too freaked out about it so maybe they're okay.

"I really don't want to talk about it!" he laughed, forced.

"The entire hospital is going to be in frenzy!" I called, closing in on him. "We need to get out of here before the cops come!"

I walked to the juvenile delinquent and looked him over as Genkai jumped through the broken window.

"Botan!" Genkai called to the reaper, and I took my eyes off Yu for a moment to look out the window, finding an unconscious man in a lab coat. "Tend to those two boys; they took some heavy injuries."

"Yes Ma'am!" Botan smiled before heading to where they were.

"What happened? Was he the one with the territory?" I bombarded him with questions, not letting him get an answer in. "Was he part of the creator's group? Are you hurt?"

He looked down at me, eyes searching my face in wonder of what to answer first. "Uh. I'm alright!"

"Christ. Yeah… at least you're alright." I cringed, knowing I wasn't going to get anything out of him. I let out a sigh and for some reason tried again, unable to help myself. "What happened? Was he the enemy? What did he do?"

"Geez, I'll tell you later!" he replied. "Stop with the third degree!"

"Excuse you, dumbass, but what if he has reinforcements in here or something? We were being watched at one point."

His brows furrowed. "What?"

"We have no time to argue. We need to leave." Kurama's voice carried over to us, and I looked behind Yu to find him coming down the hall. Thank God he was alright too. "I've called the police. They're on their way."

It was then we all became aware of the ever-growing sound of sirens, and the little… strange… cooing that came from behind Kurama.

"_Puu_." There it was again. The same ugly little thing from the bus stop.

Yu looked around the hallway for the noise, and finally Kurama moved out of the way to show _two more_ surprises. Keiko and the older Kuwabara had somehow managed to find their way down to Mushiyori, no doubt in search of the boys.

"Sis!" Kuwabara knew where to focus his attention, as did Yu, who called out Keiko's name in surprise.

"How did you even get here?" Yu asked, and then looked at me.

I quickly defended myself. "I haven't talked to them in weeks!"

"Puu lead us here," Keiko said, to which Yu groaned. "He's been acting really strange since last night."

"Why can't you be more like Keiko, eh?" I reiterated Yu as I turned to him, my tone becoming exaggerated and obnoxious. "She knows not to stick her—"

"Shove it, Aiko!" he snapped

"Kazuma, what's happening here?" His sister asked.

"A whole lot of stuff—" Kuwabara replied, but was quickly cut off by Genkai.

"We have no time! You all can talk once we get out of here."

"Shit!" Yu groaned as the sirens grew louder.

Nobody had to think twice, we all began down the hallway, searching for the nearest exit. I practically skidded to a halt as a more than important thought crossed my mind.

"We need to get the security tapes!" I said, and everyone paused to think of the option, looking back at me. "I'm sure Yu and the doctor didn't have a cup of tea and talk it out!"

"I don't care if I'm on it." Yu shrugged.

"_You're_ on it!" I pointed to Kurama and then quickly realized I couldn't afford leaving the tape either. "…_I'm_ on it! Get that fucking tape! We have no idea if any Barrier officials work in the Mushiyori police! If they see Kurama, we're fucked!"

"Yeah but wouldn't that would be suspicious to take the tape?" Yu pointed out.

"Blame it on the enemy!"

Genkai snapped and began heading for the entrance again. "Make your decision."

Kurama smiled and opened his jacket, revealing a black VHS in his inner pocket. I sighed in relief.

"Let's split up," Botan offered. "Meet up at the train station. If a big group runs down the street we're bound to be stopped."

"Shizuru." I looked to the older Kuwabara, and she nodded. "Keiko, Botan, and…" I paused, looking at the old woman and wondering how to address her when I was spouting orders… Yu was her disciple. Student was to teacher as disciple was to— "_Master_ Genkai... With me?"

She blinked slowly, as if silently approving of the way I addressed her. The other girls nodded.

"Kido's staying here," Yu mentioned. "He was injured in the fight with the doctor. He needs medical attention."

"I'll stay here with him then," Kaito offered. "Make sure he's fine and cover up loose ends."

"Yana, Kurama, Yu, and Kuwabara—together," I said, waiting for them to nod.

"Get the lead out of your shoes, girls," Master Genkai snapped. "They'll raid the hospital in just less than a few minutes."

"We'll meet at the train station," Kurama said before looking to me. "Make sure to not to stray from your group."

"The only place I'd go back to is the mountain to scout around," I reassured him. "And I have a curfew, so I won't."

He stared me down, a silent regard for me to keep my word. With a deep breath, from adrenaline and prep to run, I cracked a stupid grin as a promise. So stupid… he had to repress the wry smile to mock me.

Our groups parted ways—our shoes hitting the pavement and carrying us past the cop cars. The boys stayed at a halt, waiting for us to disappear before heading out.

Never in my life could I remember looking forward to being at a train station.

* * *

**A/N:** Usually, I go off the manga. This time I decided to mix aspects of both the anime and manga. You'll probably see me doing that from now on, so there's a little heads up.

I posted this before my flight, and I'll get to work on the next chapter on the plane. If this trip goes well, you can expect to see me in August. If it takes a nosedive (as I expect it will), you can expect me sooner.

Thanks to _YuYuHakushoObsesser_, _hollyandthediamonds_, and one guest for reviewing last chapter, and everyone who's tagged along through follows and faves! Muah.


	5. Born to Die

_**PART III. "Born to Die."**_

* * *

_"I was so confused as a little child—tried to take what I could get, scared that I couldn't find all the answers, honey."_

_— Elizabeth Woolridge Grant._

* * *

**Kurama.**

She was determined to see me home and wouldn't tell me why. I hadn't been the one in danger at the hospital, so I would have expected her to trail Yusuke home. She was surprisingly quiet during the walk, as I expected she would have asked about everyone's territories and what they could do. Instead, she opened her mouth and closed it within the same second multiple times, words lingering in her throat.

As our shoes scuffed the concrete on our way up to my front door, she didn't bother asking about territories or what happened in the hospital. That wasn't the kind of question that would be hard for her to spit out with ease. I didn't think there was such a question; my interest was piqued.

"Shouldn't you be on your way home?" I looked down to her before pulling my keys out. I knew if I spoke first, she'd try harder to change the subject in reply.

Her upper lip twitched as she glanced up to me sheepishly. "I'm going to ask you something and I'm… like I'm not trying to be rude or anything…"

This was a rare sight, one I truly relished. Usually she just asked without remorse.

I smiled down to her, trying to make the atmosphere easier for her as I pondered on what could have her so cautious.

"Like, I know you're, well… not… you know." Her eyes slanted away to concrete as she inhaled a shaky breath. "And I was wondering what you looked like." And her eyes flicked up to me. "Before this."

I paused, actually surprised. After witnessing my talent with plants, that leap up to the hospital roof was what reeled her imagination?

"It's whatever, you don't have to tell me," she said hastily, forcing a small, apologetic smile. "Just forget it."

Whatever the reason, it caused her to hesitate, be considerate.

"I was noticeably otherworldly, both when I was a spirit and when I finally took a more human form," I replied quietly, calming her anxiety. "Over seven feet tall. Long, silver hair. Ears and a tail, even."

Brows furrowed, her eyes widened as she tried placing the main descriptions together. We stood in silence on the porch as the sun touched the horizon, bathing us in a light gold.

The lock next to us clicked, and the door opened to reveal my mother. "I knew I heard voices on the other side. Did you two have fun?"

Aiko was the first to respond. "Yeah, it was a real… _adventure_!"

She pulled the door open wider before stepping outside on the porch.

"That's great," she said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "I do need your advice before you head off, Aiko."

"Advice?" we asked at the same time. Aiko then continued. "But I really need to be headed home. I need to get home before it's too dark."

Mother nodded. "Oh, it'll only take a moment. You could say it's some simple fashion advice."

And with that, the girl practically sprinted into the house to take off her shoes. "Oh, Shiori, you've called upon the right person!"

My mother patted my shoulder, drawing my attention to her. As she gave me a small wink, I craned my neck around to see down the foyer's hallway to the kitchen. Hatanaka was here.

In the kitchen, we sat around the chestnut wood. Aiko hovered over the table, hands planted next to the magazines and brochures as she eyed them.

"Wait a second…" she gasped at the magazine pages my mother was showing her. "These are… _wedding decorations_?!"

Mother and Hatanaka, who sat across from the two of us, nodded simply.

"You never…" She stared blankly at my mother, eyed Hatanaka, and then glared at me. "Nobody said anything! Not even a clue was dropped. Not once did I hear a phone call to relatives or see any dates marked on calendars… No cards, no—"

"Well, it wasn't intentional to keep you in the dark," Mother said with a small smile, gesturing Aiko to sit. "Very few people know about it, about Kazuya and me dating too. Less than ten people total between our friends, excluding our families and you."

"But…" she paused and sat back in her seat, eyeing them warily. "Why?"

Hatanaka laughed. "It's because we work together—more precisely, she works under me."

"Ah." Aiko, mouth wide in understanding, nodded. "I get it. You don't want any praise or promotion Shiori receives to be seen as undeserved because you're her boss."

He nodded. "Especially since she's been climbing the ranks of the corporation since she's returned from the hospital. We've always agreed to keep our relationship quiet."

"To save face." Aiko nodded. "That's why I never heard about him before the trip to the hospital?"

Mother nodded. "We've been dating for… my, since Shuichi was twelve."

"Oh, don't think twice about it," Hatanaka said. "We made sure to keep it under tight wraps, especially in public."

"So then..." She took the magazines and looked at the center pieces my mother was asking about. "If you take his last name…"

"Luckily, our last names aren't displayed in the office," Mother laughed in relief as Aiko nodded and returned her attention to the magazines. "Besides, I've thought of transferring departments to communications. I did receive my bachelors in that after all, feels more right to work there than in accounting."

"That's always a good back-up plan if rumors start…" Aiko sifted through the pages, eyeing the colors and designs of the centerpiece. "Something for the main table?"

Mother nodded before resting her chin in her hand, leaning forward to see Aiko's decision.

"Then this one." Aiko pushed the magazine to my mother, who eyed it, scrutinized it. "Especially if you're doing all white for the reception. The colors will blend easily and it'll give you freedom for any other color you want to put in the room to pop."

"That was my second choice," Mother responded. "You sure you don't like the first? This one?"

"I heard you placed top of your class again, Shu-kun," Hatanaka said, drawing my attention from the small brunette as she took another look at the first choice.

"Oh, it's nothing," I said quickly, hoping Aiko was too busy to overhear us. "How's Shuuichi doing so far?"

"He's aiming for Tenou High," Hatanaka replied. "So he's been looking for certain extracurricular activities."

"That poor soul," Aiko gasped. "That tacky blonde uniform is an atrocity and nobody deserves to be put through that."

My mother began laughing loudly, covering her mouth. "I said the same thing!"

The two of them screamed with laughter, and Hatanaka and I sighed, giving each other tired smiles.

"No, but that's amazing he's aiming for Tenou!" Aiko quickly covered up the joke. "I heard their swimming and volleyball teams are amazing."

"He's trying to join a sports team when he should be working on his pre-calculus!" he said. "I'm all for extracurricular activities but math was never his strong point. He needs to focus on his grades too. Being good at a sport isn't likely to get you through life."

"Pre-calculus was _so_ much worse than calculus," she sighed. "I didn't believe anyone in Kino Cram when they told me calculus would be easier, but in a way they were right. The algebra is horrid but the calculus theories are so much easier. Pre-calculus has all sorts of aspects, like it reintroduces trig and even gets into physics and it's just… ugh."

"You already went through it?" he asked. "He needs a kick in the rear to get help with this."

Brown eyes flickered to me, and as she turned to face Hatanaka I saw the glimpse of a scheming smile.

"I'm hoping to go to the library tomorrow," she said. "I have some school work I need to get ahead on. It'd be no trouble if you wanted to drop him off."

"Are you going tomorrow, too, Shuichi?" Mother asked, and Aiko looked to me with a quick glance and nod.

"I suppose I am."

"Meiou's number one student and socialite both under one roof with plenty of books!" Aiko laughed. "Perfect time to study."

"Ah, I wouldn't want to impose that on you." Hatanaka waved dismissively.

"No, I think it'd be nice," I cut in.

She knew she couldn't convince her parents without some sort of obligation—one that would benefit her, such as a "study group." Bringing another name in, along with offering to let her younger brother tag along, would increase her chances of being let out of the house a third day in a row.

"Yeah, I may need to bring my little brother, though," she said, just as I expected.

"Oh, how has he been?" Mother asked. "Shuichi told me he's been going to a research facility?"

"Oh my, what a big mouth he has." Aiko flashed me a fake smile.

"Nothing compared to yours, I assure you." I returned the smile as she looked to my mother.

"Is it the one at the local children's hospital?" Hatanaka asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, they've done a lot of blood and physical tests with him and the rest of the kids to see if there was anything different about them, and compared them to a control group."

"Oh, was he one of the kids that dropped during the gas leaks?" Hatanaka gasped, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, but none of the kids were much different from the control group. Like, nothing that would raise an answer," she replied. "Luckily for a lot of kids, they ran tests that the families otherwise couldn't afford, and the doctors caught a lot of issues and diseases early."

"Is Minoru okay?" Mother asked hastily as the teapot whistled.

"He's fine, actually," Aiko reassured her as she got up to serve tea. "More than fine… eventually they ran out of physical and psychological tests to run and decided to try seemingly unrelated tests in desperation, even though they knew it wouldn't matter. They did an IQ test a few weeks ago."

Eventually the research would be dropped and labeled a mystery as they would find nothing similar between the group of kids.

"How did he do?" Mother asked excitedly as she served everyone warm cups of tea.

Aiko laughed nervously, wrapping her fingers around the cup slowly. "He scored a hundred and thirty."

"How old is he?!" Hatanaka balked.

"He's in grade school!" she laughed, but it sounded scared. "Like… if he's not watching _Saburomaru! The Great Detective!_ he's watching some documentary. If he's not reading comics he's looking through my old textbooks…"

"That's amazing! Oh, my, Aiko. He has so much potential—colleges scout for students like him!" Mother clasped her hands together, smiling bright. "Think of how he'll be by your age!"

"His social skills are so subpar though, like he acts younger than he is," she laughed dryly, staring down into her cup. "And, like, he's popular because he was one of the kids that dropped but he only has two real friends. All he really has are his books and shows."

"An academic scholarship!" Hatanaka cheered. "If he stays on track, he could get a full ride anywhere."

"Yeah… that'd be great." She took a sip from her cup. "That's what we're hoping for… a scholarship for a full ride to a prestigious college that hundreds of thousands of other geniuses are applying for."

There was a brief air of silence before the subject was adjusted.

"...Either of you thought about where you want to go for college?" Hatanaka asked. "It's your second year."

"I'm still deciding," she replied quickly, pushing Hatanaka's eyes on me.

"As am I," I said.

"I should get going. I have a curfew." She stood up and hiked her purse over her shoulder before Hatanaka could open his mouth. "The tea was delicious, Shiori. Thanks." She then nodded to Hatanaka. "It was nice to see you again, Hatanaka."

Mother checked the watch on her wrist as Hatanaka looked to the window, finding the setting sun to be just a sliver on the horizon now. The sky above was dark, blending into what little light was left in the sky.

"Oh, you did say you had to be back before dark, didn't you? Do you want me to drive you?" Mother offered.

"No!" she said quickly and then laughed again. "It's fine. I'll make it back in time." She then turned to me. "Uh, I was out all weekend so I'll just call you if my dad doesn't let me go to the library. Would you mind telling Hatanaka?"

"Here," Hatanaka said, pulling a pen out of his shirt pocket. He reached for a small notepad Mother had used for decoration notes and ripped off a clean sheet. "Here's my number. Just feel free to call when you know you can or can't go!"

She took the number and bowed to Mother and Hatanaka. "Thanks for having me over!"

She left the house so fast it left my mother and her fiancé stunned, not even giving them a chance to get up from their seats to usher her out.

"Did… we say something wrong?" Mother asked me, to which I shook my head.

"Her father is just mad at her for staying out all weekend, Mother," I reassured her. "Don't worry; she just had to be home."

"Shame, I didn't get to show her this." Hatanaka dug in his slacks' pocket, pulling out a creased, folded piece of notebook paper. "Shiori mentioned she'd probably be over today so I brought this."

I took the paper and noted the dirty shoe prints before unfolding it. It was a sketch of Mother and Hatanaka in the hospital. My mother lay in the hospital bed, smiling to Hatanaka as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the hospital sheets sheepishly.

It was done in pencil, and the lead was smudged and faded around the lines as it was old. There were shoe prints on the inside as well, one planted directly atop the couple.

"I thought it'd be a nice conversation starter with her," he said. "Remind her of this and compliment her on it. She draws so well."

I never saw this drawing, but I knew when it was created. She never boasted about her art the way she did when she would pass a test, it was almost sad to see her shove it aside as a hobby when she could recreate another person so thoroughly in just a rough sketch.

If they had brought up the subject of her art instead of college then she'd definitely be here still.

"Ah, also, Shuichi," Mother said, dragging my attention from her penciled face to her flesh. "Would you mind skipping club and cram on Monday? Kazuya is headed out to Osaka for an important business meeting soon to discuss a cooperative marketing agreement, so we were thinking of having a good luck dinner celebration."

I set the drawing in the middle of the table. "Of course."

Their conversation returned to one of work and their wedding. Their words buzzed into the background as I stared into the cup of steaming green tea. I wondered how I would be able to disrupt their lives—how Aiko would go about it.

I trusted her to find a way; I had no doubt she would come through. But that didn't mean I wouldn't find a way to convince them to go to the States.

* * *

**Aiko.**

Hirogawa didn't ask much about what I did at the mansion, he seemed to think the fact I was alive was good enough. I spent most of my shift on the register, staring at my index finger when I wasn't ringing someone up. I actually missed the tacky, gaudy ring.

I was totally trigger-happy wearing that thing. The idea that I could do what Yu did on a regular basis, the idea I could grow spiritually like that was… exciting. I almost wished I had a ring of my own, or something cuter… not that I'd ever need to use it.

Minoru came in handy as I expected. After I offered to take him to the library where he could read anything he wanted while I was there, he hassled my dad to take him. Of course, my father wasn't in the mood to spend time at a library.

I told my father that I wanted to go to a study group. He was far from convinced, which lead to Minoru taking on a new role in the family as my dad dropped us off at the local library after my nine to five shift.

Minoru wasn't just a little brother anymore; he was a punk ass snitch.

I knew it would turn to this, but I didn't know just how seriously Minoru would take his new role.

My dad's spy, there to watch over me and make sure I was doing school work and not goofing off like the douchebag he thought I was. The consequences of Minoru covering for me weighed more greatly than the consequences of snitching on me.

I would beat Minoru's ass into the twenty-first century but my dad's anger and post-beat down passive aggression was enough to make the most egotistical person hate themselves.

Luckily, it looked like I was doing a project of some sort, and Hatanaka's son asking me to for help on schoolwork only gave the impression that I was actually putting my brain to use for school.

I met Hatanaka, Shuuichi, before, but we never really talked. We met just as I was leaving the Minamino household one late winter day.

When addressing Kurama, he was careful with his words though definitely still friendly, but when addressing me he was more casual. I couldn't help but wonder how cold Kurama was to the poor boy when their parents started dating. I remembered how distant he was with me and I figured this boy was no exception to his cold shoulder.

Twenty minutes into the "study session", Minoru quit watching me like a hawk. He also stopped with the obnoxious "Hey, that doesn't sound like studying! I'm telling dad!" once he became more invested in his comic.

A myriad of books were strewn across the table, and it was really my mess. Shuuichi sat next to me, munching on a box of strawberry Pocky I shoplifted as he worked on his pre-calculus. Among the books were two shopping bags worth of snacks I lifted from the market. Everyone was eating something, even Kurama—hell, even me.

I shoved the last forkful of Chicken Caesar Salad in my mouth as I skimmed through the open book in front of me. Found it.

"Makihara Nature Conservation Area." I slid the book across the table to Kurama.

He had his head rested on his hand, leisurely reading another book—one much smaller than mine.

"Are you even looking?" I asked, covering my full mouth with my free hand.

"Hm?" He looked up from his text slowly, giving me a small, innocent smile that really meant he wasn't innocent at all.

"You're not even looking," I said, baffled. "What have you been doing all this time?"

He reached into the small can of roasted wasabi peas. "Reading about the features of Makihara's Nature Conservation."

"Couldn't throw me a hint that you already knew?"

"You're doing so well, though," he replied simply.

I was ready to yank that ponytail right off his head…

"Don't patronize me."

"The area spans two thousand acres," he said.

I stared blankly at him.

"Shuichi, Shuichi!" Minoru whispered to the red-head he sat next to. "Look!"

He leaned over to see what my brother wanted, letting his ponytail brush over his shoulder as he read the comic panels quickly. Chewing the roasted wasabi peas, he hummed patiently, feigning interest in Minoru's excitement. *****

"Hojo," Shuuichi whispered to me and I turned to him, eyes unable to drag away from the book I was staring at until the last second. "I forgot what you said about finding the period. I'm going to fail when we get to this in class."

Negative three cosine two pi _x_ minus two…

"Uh…" I whispered as I stared down at the equation, trying to remember my pre-calculus year. I dragged my fingers through my hair, pulling it over my shoulder. "Okay… Okay! Remember that it's always two pi over whatever's with x or theta."

He stared down at his equation. "So it _is_ one!"

"It's two pi x…" I reread the equation again and nodded. "Yeah. That should be one. You're doing fine. You'll be fine when you get here in class."

"It was so simple an answer I thought I got it wrong," he laughed. I paused, hoping I wasn't wrong.

"Sis! Sis!" Minoru whispered across the table. "Look!"

I waved him off, ignoring him. "If it's part of the comic then I don't care right now. You can show me later."

"You can look, I won't tell dad you're not studying," he whined, voice raising.

"Quiet!" I hissed. "And it's not that. I just don't care about whatever comic you're reading."

He huffed and returned his attention to the book.

Kurama flipped the page of his book leisurely as I shoved through my small stacked collection. There were two caves in Makihara Nature Conservation Area. Irima and Musashi.

Both were so long, winding, and deep, that neither of them were fully explored. Due to the nature and natural design of each cave, researchers had to be careful and tedious, so surveying has taken years.

"What have you found so far?" I asked.

"Makihara Nature Conservation Area is also home to a very rare flower," he replied simply.

Are you fucking kidding me, Kurama?

I leaned over the table, whispering. "If you're not here to patronize me, then why?"

He glanced up to me, smile turning innocent to wry instantly. "Because if I let you get started and on track, you'll find the answer."

"…Making me do the grunt work."

He shook his head with a small laugh. "No."

I was baffled. He was so relaxed. From his clothing—light sweater with the sleeves rolled up casually—to his posture—elbow on the table, face rested in hand. And there I was with books and maps strewn around me, covering every visible inch of the library's table. My headband, keeping my hair out of my face, was threatening to fall off with how I bent over books to read, and my eyes were beginning to hurt. My head was already pounding and we were only a little over a half hour in.

"There are two caves in the area," I said quietly, breathing through gritted teeth to calm my irritation. "Irima and Musashi."

"Which do you think it resides in?" he asked simply, flipping to the next page. "Here they are."

He set the book down in front of me, and I dragged mine next to it. I scanned the information the two books held, which were relatively the same between the authors.

"Something that would deter people from researching it at this time, or make the trek down into the depths of the cave unappealing," Kurama said quietly.

"Both of them still haven't been fully explored," I said, and he nodded.

Maybe Kaito was right… maybe they weren't in the caves… but then, how else could they get underground if not in a cave? Maybe some sewer-line? Maybe there was another cave entrance on the other side of Mushiyori—Kurama did mention it spanned over two thousand acres.

Sewer line was unrealistic but… right now the caves seemed unrealistic too.

"Which means they're both enticing for researchers. Then we should think more of…" He then paused. His eyes shifted to his right, towards the staircase that led to the first floor, and then he stood. "I am not here."

What? Who could it be?

I eyed the staircase across the floor, worried it would be the spawn of Satan herself as she was the only one who could clear him from a room. I'd avoid anyone who wanted to ship me to Makai. Better safe than sorry.

Luckily it was only Natsume's dog: Fukui, Hitomi.

I turned to the two boys that were left in my company.

"Shuichi doesn't like her, so don't say he's here." The two boys nodded, attention kept on their books. I leaned towards Minoru and hissed. "I mean it."

"Okay!" Minoru whined, somehow still remembering to stay quiet.

I eyed him briefly before turning back to see the ebony-haired Rapunzel. She didn't see me as she walked down the open aisle, looking at the directory plaques. It wasn't until she felt someone staring her down that she noticed me. She was slightly surprised. Her eyebrows sprung up under her fringe and her eyes widened briefly.

Pushing her long hair off her shoulder, it fluttered in the wind she created as she made her way to me.

"Didn't think I'd ever see you in a library," she noted, stepping up to our table. She carried a sort of sad, dry... cold air with her.

"I could say the same about you." I stood up from my seat, eyeing her features.

Compared to her atmosphere, she looked warm with her face painted in earth-tones. She was cozy in her thick jacket and denim jeans.

"Babysitting?" She nodded to the boys behind me.

"Kind of," I said with a shrug. "I'm just doing research for… an ecology project. Why did you come down from Tohoku?"

"I'm visiting my father for the weekend, and decided I could hang out here while I waited for him since he just transferred planes in Hokkaido. I have a psychology paper to write—how we see and treat the environment, and why. Figured I could find some titles here."

Kurama had surely figured this out by now but I was still left in the dark. "Natsume here?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head slowly before eyeing the books behind me. "No. She'll be here in a couple of days. We're going on a trip."

I repressed a scoff.

_Another sick tournament? _I wanted to ask, but instead, I noticed her eye movement. I hesitated as she read the print behind me, and I knew her vision was fine as it was. It didn't help the title of the page was in large, bold letters.

"Shuuichi, why don't you take Minoru to the bathroom?" I asked, eyes locked on Fukui.

Shuuichi hesitated behind me while Minoru complained. "I don't have to go pee!"

Fukui's face tensed as she began piecing information together. I searched her face, watching the cogs in her mind turn.

"We're going to be here a while," I replied calmly.

Minoru grumbled and Shuuichi did as I asked, taking the kid by the hand and leading him down the aisle. I could feel Shuuichi's eyes on me, wary that I didn't like her either. Minoru surprisingly didn't remark how he'd tell on me to dad.

I trusted she waited until they were out of sight to whisper. "Taken a sudden interest in Mushiyori, huh?"

My arms found their way across my chest. "Yup."

"How convenient."

I wasn't surprised Border Patrol was notified. In fact, I shouldn't be keeping this a secret from her, should I? Couldn't she help? Maybe they were doing their own separate research?

"Does Reikai know you're working on this?" she asked.

"No, I volunteered to help with the book work while the detective is on foot in the city. Is Border Patrol doing anything?"

"_Border Patrol _is awaiting information." She shrugged. "I guess you're the one who will be gathering it. So no. They won't do anything until you turn information in and it's validated."

I paused, noticing her word. "'They'? I thought you were part of Reikai."

"I am but…" she hesitated, choosing her diction wisely. "I only have certain clearances with _Border Patrol_."

"Unlike Natsume?"

She walked next to me, stopping at the edge of the table and looking at the two books that lay open. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. What if she goes back to Tohoku and tells Natsume what we found and then she rushes down there causing trouble?

Wouldn't it be better for Border Patrol to take care of this, though? Why was it Yu's and everyone else's responsibility? Where was the glorious Special Defense Force that had such big problems to handle?

Was an apocalypse not a big problem?

Still, Yu was just as invested as anyone else at this point. It almost felt wrong to hand off information to Border Patrol and let them take over when I knew Yu wanted to be the one to handle this.

"Are you going to tell Natsume what we have so far?" I asked.

She shifted next to me, leaning her weight on one leg. "You're going to send this in to Reikai, right?"

"Yeah, that's the point."

"Then no."

Was she lying? Why would she lie?

I eyed her, suspicion more than clear on my features as she stared back, expressionless. "Don't trust me?"

"Trust you as much as I do any man."

She blinked once, then twice, before turning her eyes back to the thick book that showed Irima Cave's picture.

"It'd be pointless for me to tell her unfinished information, something that hasn't been run by and validated by officials," she said, fingers leisurely tracing the edge of the book. "That could send us on a wild goose chase if what you find is wrong."

It sounded reasonable enough but I still couldn't shake the feeling of distrust. "I don't want Natsume to know I'm working on this."

"The last thing I'm going to do is bring your name up to her. I hear your name enough from her as it is."

I could feel the corner of my lips tugging up. Even now I was still in her head. "Good or bad?"

She shrugged, pinched the page and lifted it, and quickly scanned the next. "I'd take anything out of her mouth to be bad no matter how good her intentions."

"One more question." Best to ask someone whose father just opened a gigantic building that went underground, right?

She grunted, laying the page back where it was.

"Does anything span underneath Mushiyori?"

Her head whipped around, and when her gaze settled on me it turned into a heavy stare.

My eyebrow rose with interest. "I take it something does?"

Her features softened, relaxed. "No."

"Quite a reaction for 'no'."

"Because I thought you were on to something," she replied, letting the page fall back in place. "Mushiyori's only underground systems are the sewers and train, and potential tunnels of the caves that haven't been mapped."

"Yeah, sewer lines aren't big enough to open a tunnel that magnitude, huh…" I mumbled to myself at the information. I turned to the book again, skimming through the text. "Someone would have seen a portal when they passed by in a train…"

I trailed off, still upset that it may not be in the cave. It had to be, that was all that was left… but Kaito's words still sulked in the back of my mind.

"Actually, I should just wait at the airport," she said suddenly, and I watched her hike the strap of her purse tighter on her shoulder.

I nodded, not having much to say anyway. I wanted to ask if I could trust her not to say anything, but if she was as I remembered her—an asshole—then she just might rat the information to Natsume out of spite.

She turned and began walking away.

"Travel safe," I bid farewell, albeit forced.

Light-footed steps stopped, her back still facing me. After a second, she spoke. "I won't tell her."

"No offense." All offense. "But I'm not keen on trusting your word."

"I'd rather her find out where the tunnel is last-minute than tell her you have leads, right or wrong."

My brows practically touched in the midst of my confusion. I shouldn't have said anything, but I wanted to be sure.

"The later you tell her, the more likely she is to rush down when the tunnel is about to open, when more youkai are let loose. You could be maimed or killed, you know."

"I kind of want it that way." She shifted, turning slightly on one foot to glance over her shoulder, bringing a thick atmosphere with her. The same coldness wafted around her, traveled towards me, brushing my cheeks and neck as it sauntered by. "We deserve to die."

She turned away from me and continued her leave, letting the heaviness sit with me. I stayed put, leaning on the edge of the table as Kurama appeared behind me, having exited his hiding spot among the many aisles the moment she stepped down the stairs out of sight.

I waited to speak, unsure. "'We' as in her, Natsume, and Hayashi?"

And he immediately entered with the follow-up question. "Or 'we' as in humanity?"

The two of us stood in silence, unsure of how to take her comment. Was she part of the tunnel scheme?

"No, she just hates herself," I whispered to him, knowing he was analyzing her words as I was. "Natsume has a way of doing that to you."

I could only wonder how living with Natsume out in Tohoku was for her.

"Are you guys done talking?" Shuuichi reappeared, peaking past the bookshelf.

"Did you hear what we talked about?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

He shook his head, letting go of Minoru's hand so the younger boy could walk back to the table and sit down. "I saw her leaving down the main aisle and thought it was fine to come back."

"Yeah, we're done."

Shuuichi took his seat as Kurama rounded the table, handing me another book along the way. I noticed Minoru seemed upset, setting his comic book on the table with a sort of gentleness when he usually could be seen slapping it on the table as he plopped in his chair.

"Why don't you like her, Shuichi?" Shuuichi asked, prompting Kurama's eyes to land on him, and then briefly to me. "She's really pretty and looks nice. Is she mean?"

I shrugged.

The red-head then took his seat, giving a strange, simple smile. "I'd just rather not be around her at all."

It wasn't necessarily Fukui but the fact she was associated with Natsume.

Shuuichi's brows furrowed but he shrugged to himself and then turned back to his pre-calculus booklet.

"So it has to be a cave," I said, whispering hastily. "Sewer-lines are too small, someone would notice it going by in a train…"

"Of course it's in a cave," he said calmly. "You were right the first time."

"Yeah, but… what Kaito said is right. It's not smart to plant something there of all places."

"He may be right." He tapped the open book and drew my attention to the pages once more. "But that doesn't mean you're wrong."

My eyes traveled up his arm to his face, patient and calm. He was never patronizing me; he trusted me to do what I could. He trusted I'd find the right answer.

I grabbed the first open book and read quietly, summarizing the information after each paragraph.

Musashi cave. The entrance was a long drop of roughly two kilometers before hitting flatland. Once one hit flatland, the cave twisted and turned in its path. The cave was riddled with stalagmites and stalactites and other small openings on the ground that could lead to small tunnels used by animals. ******

All the technical stuff wasn't doing much for me, but I had to take it into consideration.

I moved to Irima, scanning through the details. Sloped walkway, easy access, few stalagmites or stalactites, many dangerously sloped tunnels, a river…

"If we're talking about practicality, then weaving through serious rock formations would be a hassle," Kurama said, having been reading my text upside down.

"But if we wanted security then the more rock formations, the harder it'll be for people to stumble upon their tunnel…" I sighed before leaning on the table in frustration.

"That drop in Musashi isn't convenient if he has humans like the doctor working for him," he noted.

"What else is there besides technical stuff?" I grumbled. "Surely that can't be all there is to picking a cave."

"It must also be related to the season," he said, cupping his chin pensively as he brought up an old point. "One of them must not be interesting enough in order to keep researchers away for a season."

"Schools will still go for field trips, like middle and high school," I mumbled the old counter, standing up. "I'm going to see if there's any other text on them."

He nodded in acknowledgement and I passed by the aisles. I didn't feel like scanning through titles anymore, my head was beginning to really hurt. I'd ask the librarian.

Heading to the woman behind the counter on the first floor, I waited patiently for her to acknowledge me as she shuffled through some obscure paperwork and index cards. I watched lazily as small strands of salt and pepper colored hair loosened and fell from her bun until she finally looked up at me with small, beady eyes.

"Oh, hello, dear," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I noticed her wrinkled hands. "What can I help you with?"

"Do you have anything on the Musashi and Irima caves in Mushiyori?" I asked.

"Hm…" She tapped her full lips with her index finger and then went to get up. As her hands gripped the armrest of her office chair, she paused. "Oh, for Irima, would you like books or periodicals?"

Periodical?!

"Newspaper, please," I replied and waited patiently as she wrote down the information I needed.

She handed me a small sheet of notepad paper.

She then got up to search the index cards for Musashi, but I stopped her before she could walk even two steps. "It's fine, I'll be back for Musashi if these periodicals don't work out."

"But those are just ones I remembered just off the top of my head," she called after me as I jogged away. "You sure you don't want more…?"

I didn't think much of her comment as I dug through the microfiche machine, but what I saw made absolute sense. As I hurriedly carried the hard copies to our table, controlling myself from running, Kurama's gaze lifted from his book to me.

The corners of his lips tugged upwards, telling me we both found something.

"You first!" I smiled before running into the corner of the table and wincing.

He waited patiently for me to stop groaning in pain to tell me. Picking up a new book he spent his time reading leisurely, he flipped to a certain page.

"Surveying and cartography dates are schedule by landowners, the Makihara's. Updates in the deep tunnels are then recorded for public record—" He gestured the book to me before setting it down. "By the same group of researchers. So the tunnel had to have begun after their latest survey. From the most recent survey that's been published, no new organisms, aquatic or terrestrial, were recorded."

He picked up another book, referencing another point, and I leaned in close to skim through the text. I found a list of plant names italicized.

"But from what's been recorded, I've found that any noteworthy plants need a damper, warmer climate to thrive and flower, especially what's been found closer to the entrance."

The summer.

"So really, it has nothing interesting until May, just like you thought," I mumbled. "That's another month away."

"Even then, students years one through twelve will still attend a field trip to a cave like this—even in the colder weather," he said, setting the book down next to the other. "Just because the same organisms and plants are nothing new to a scientist doesn't mean they can't be interesting to eager youth. And, unless you've found something, Musashi still hasn't been taken off the table."

I smiled down to Kurama, unable to keep it from being smugly proud. "It's definitely off the table now."

He remained quiet, wearing an expectant smile as I took the newspaper hard copies out from under my arm. I slapped the first one down in front of him and grinned.

"Irima's Cave is known for suicides!"

He picked up the hard copy, skimming it. "So you're saying…"

"It's taboo to go to a site like that," I whispered, leaning towards him. "You don't bring kids to a site like this. Look. Students from year two to year twelve, and then even kids in higher education, won't step near the place. Hell, I've even found a testimony saying delinquents don't step foot near it."

I set the hard copies on the table and flipped for the most recent one, dated one year ago. I found the paragraph I was looking for after less than a minute of skimming. Shuuichi's voice could be heard behind us in quiet whispers.

"Miyagi, Junko, a year nine student at Tsukino Public Junior High commented on the recent suicide at Irima cave," I read aloud in a whisper. I read along with him in my head.

_She said upon interview, "A lot of us are scared of that cave so this news isn't surprising. Some people even say it's haunted, cursed. My parents, who have lived here all their lives, mentioned that they can count on both their hands combined the amount of suicides they've heard about in Irima Cave. My teacher scheduled our geology field trip to a cave in another city because the cave unnerves even him."_

"And she's not the only student," I said, sifting through the newspapers. "I've found kids as young as seven and college students as old as twenty-one with testimonies like this. Nobody goes there, it's taboo."

"They picked a 'cursed' cave and managed to schedule their tunnel around the survey dates, which aren't listed until publication for records."

He picked up the book again and skimmed through what few dates were listed. I leaned over his shoulder as he flipped through the records, reading the dates along with him... There were no real patterns except for maybe good weather, but even then the dates were random.

He glanced up to me, forest green eyes meeting mine as we the reality hit us. Whispers left our lips at the same time. "A Makihara works with them."

"Coupling all this information with Reikai's…" He stared down at the newspapers and though he wasn't smiling, I could see the satisfaction in his face. "We've found the tunnel's location."

I fist pumped the air so hard my arm could have rightfully flown out of its socket. I plopped down in my seat, a weight lifted off my shoulder.

"The assignment is finished!" I cheered, leaning back in the chair.

In the still air of the library, we exchanged glances once more, his of lingering satisfaction and mine of beaming pride.

"We make a good team, don't you think?" I winked.

He breathed a quick laugh. "Meiou's number one student and socialite under one roof."

"We should do this more often. It was fun," I offered jokingly, to which he quickly replied.

"Under similar circumstances."

I watched him begin to organize the table, gathering the books and straighten the newspapers, as I felt my smile turn into a full-blown, cheek-hurting grin.

"After this, I wouldn't have it any other way."

He adjusted the copies with a fleeting smile, and then, just as I was about to ask if he would turn the information in, he spoke.

"Mother and Hatanaka are having dinner tomorrow, and Shuuichi and I need to go. I'll drop by Reikai the day after tomorrow."

"Shouldn't we turn it in as soon as possible? Go tonight." I couldn't remember the last time I was this satisfied with an accomplishment.

"We were just there," he said, voice barely above a whisper. "When we turn it in, Koenma will tell Yusuke, who will go down there to handle it immediately. They're expecting us. The less security, the better."

I nodded, watching him as he continued cleaning up. He gathered the books into a few piles and gathered any stray boxes or cans to put back in the bag.

If anyone knew how to plan an attack, it was someone who experienced battle many times before. I remembered the tournament and stared at him quietly. He paused, staring down at my brother next to him in surprise.

"Uh… Hojo?" Shuuichi's voice snapped me out of it. I turned to the boy with the bowl-cut to find him pointing sheepishly at my little brother across the table. "Minoru's… uh. Crying. He's been crying for a few minutes now."

I looked to my little brother, finding his face soaked and his nose dribbling snot. His shoulders shook as he kept his mouth clamped shut. His lips were pursed tight and the skin around them puffed out, holding in all the loud cries that were bound to break through soon.

"I tried talking to him but he won't open his mouth," Shuuichi whispered.

"What's wrong, Minoru?" My eyes flickered to Kurama's and we locked gazes briefly.

With the slight furrow of my brows, I asked silently if he overheard us, but with Kurama's calm gaze I figured he shouldn't have.

"She died." Minoru's lips broke open to cry, voice breaking too.

Tears fell down his face like water out a broken dam as I stared at him in shock. "Who?"

He sniffed again, and again harder, until I got up and leaned over the table toward him.

"Who?" I asked again. "Who died?"

I couldn't make out the name as he whined it through his cries. It was unfamiliar… Then it clicked.

"Fucking Christ. From your comic book? Get over it, Minoru," I said, rolling my eyes as I sat in my seat.

As we worked in silence, Minoru's crying could still be heard. It dragged on tirelessly, even when Kurama tidied up the books and hard copies and when I gathered all the trash in the paper bag. When I grabbed the empty can of roasted wasabi peas, I was totally, one hundred and ten percent done. I too was invested in my comics and I would be just as upset—but not in public, not around other people like this.

"It was just a comic book character!" I hissed, throwing the can in the shopping bag. "I get attached to them too but _Christ_, Minoru."

"It's not just that…" he cried and then sniffed. "She… I just keep thinking… what could she have thought before she died? Before his web caught her and her neck snapped?"

I froze in shock, staring down at the boy. He was _way_ too young to think something like that. He'd reacted like this to character deaths before, but had never said something like that to me. Ever.

I knew the thought process, and it shouldn't have been something reeling around in his head. That kind of thought process came when you were fourteen years old and finished the latest issue and rolled over in bed, late at night, stoned righteously out of your mind and were one with your blankets and pillows. Not when you were six years old at a library surrounded by... text books and junk food.

"Come… come here," I said gently, gesturing for him to sit in my lap.

He got up and rounded the table, still crying. Sitting in my lap, he pressed his snot-dribbled face into my cream top and I repressed the urge to shove his face in the desk.

"Did she think he would save her?" he cried, and I stared at Kurama in shock, numb and dumbfounded about how to reply. He stared back, watching Minoru with interest. Even Shuuichi was worried about him. "Do you think she thought he was going to save her like he did everyone? Was she happy and didn't care about falling to the water because she thought he'd save him?"

"Yeah…" I replied, smoothing his hair. "I bet she was happy. I bet she was reassured."

"That's good, right?" he asked, pulling his face out of my top. "That's good even though he didn't make it? She was happy so it's… better than if she was scared?"

I swear to god if he stained my shirt…

"That's what you're aiming for if you die when you're awake," I said slowly, calmly, trying to talk sweet enough to soothe him. "That you're happy, you know? No regrets."

"I hope I'm happy when I die," he said, resting his head against my chest with a sigh. "I hope my last thought is a happy thought."

Though I was glad he took the talk with ease and simplicity, it almost unnerved me with how well he was accepting of death. Maybe being around Yu made him see it in a different light...

I glanced to Kurama again, watching him stare back with a poised expression to keep face.

I set my hand in my brother's hair, gently petting him, soothing him. I replied without much thought. "Yeah, Minoru… me too. We all do."

"It's getting late," Kurama said quietly, and I noticed the telltale evening lighting filtering through the windows. "We should get you both home."

I nodded, looking down at Minoru as he rested his head against my chest, breath hot and heavy and snot dribbling down his face still.

"Let's not rent those comics, okay?" I patted his back, and he didn't respond. "We'll go home and watch Saburomaru."

Shuuichi smiled to Minoru, leaning over in his seat. "Hey! It'll be fine; we'll pick up ice cream before we drop you off at home!"

He replied with an eager, refreshing smile to Shuuichi's offer, and I felt myself retreating inwardly, mentally. The way his mind worked burrowed itself in the back of mine, reminding me of a future ultimatum I'd be forced to make.

* * *

**A/N:**

*** **_Wasabi_ is like a spicy condiment, often seen as a paste (or like a dust?) smeared on things like roasted pea.

**** **2 kilometers is roughly 1.2 miles.

Thanks to _YuYuHakushoObsesser,_ _hollyandthediamonds, _and a guest for reviewing last chapter, and thanks to everyone who's followed and faved. Hearing from people always makes me feel so much better about the chapters I put out. Muah.


	6. Fade to Black

**A/N:** I was originally listening to The Misfits when writing but I felt if I wanted to capture the feel of the concert I should dip into some Metallica. Granted, the only concerts I've been to were for underground, unsigned hardcore punk bands at local, small-time venues or biker bars. Sometimes the bands on the bill would sound like Metallica or have some similarities.

Also, I'm coming to terms with my inability to be brief by reminding myself I write everything for a reason...

Thanks to _YuYuHakushoObsesser_, _hollyandthediamonds_, _LadyEllesmere_, _OhhTaylorJade,_ and a guest for reviewing, and everyone who's followed and faved. Feedback makes me so happy. Muah.

* * *

**Aiko.**

"Pleasepleasepleaseplease."

With skeptical eyes, he looked over the few red markings on the quiz sheet. His lips puckered in thought as he shuffled through the sheets.

I was scared, my nerves on end. I figured if I just kept talking I wouldn't be able to stop and back out. "Pleasepleasepleaseplease."

He spread them out on the kitchen counter and stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Bring home exams like this," he said pointedly.

"Ple—I haven't had an exam yet!" I protested. "And when I do, I will! Look, that's promise of me picking up my scores! I can't half-ass a quiz! Trust me, I've tried."

Exhausted from working over-time, he sighed and leaned back on the table, resting his stubbled chin in his hand. I could tell he was only entertaining me and then would shoot me down. Except he didn't know what I was going to ask yet...

"What did you say you wanted to do on a _Tuesday night_?"

I hesitated. "Well, since I did so well on all these quizzes I was hoping I could go out and have some well-deserved fun—"

"Just fucking spit it out, Aiko." He rolled his eyes.

He didn't bother asking whether I worked tomorrow night, and I was glad for that since I didn't want to tell him I asked for the night off a few weeks ago.

With one deep breath, I spat the words out as fast I could so I wouldn't be able to retrieve them. "IwantedtogototheMegallicaconcertatthepavillion."

He blinked twice, stared at me for a moment, and then cocked his head to the side. "You're fucking with me, right?"

"No." I stared back.

Though I was faltering, I tried my hardest to keep a straight face. I knew bringing this up would create a nasty atmosphere and it was brewing quickly. I could feel the heat around us, between us, created by our emotions and festering the ugly air.

Now he was interested. This wasn't considered progress to him like it was for me, but I'd brought that upon myself years ago.

The only sound in the room with us was the show Minoru left on the TV before heading to my room twenty minutes ago. A rerun of _Saburomaru_! had just ended, and the rolling credits were becoming louder and louder as I waited anxiously.

He leaned forward with a more than dubious look on his face and the ending credits fuzzed away quickly. "So, you want to go to a Megallica concert."

I nodded stiffly.

"A concert that has hundreds of people. Hundreds of grown men."

Again, albeit slowly, I nodded. He sneered briefly, dredging up our past in silence, before giving me a mocking smile, one of anger.

"Yeah, you know what? You want to go? Go ahead. Go." He crossed his arms over his chest, nodding to me. Then the smile disappeared when I didn't reply. "But let's get two things straight."

I waited for him to speak. I could feel the sentence coming out of his mouth before it really left his lips.

"One. Don't you fucking _dare_ call me to save you halfway through the night. You're on your own." And even though I saw those words coming, they still cut deep. I felt the sting in the bridge of my nose, my eyes began to burn. "Two. I don't care how fucking late you stay out, you could not come home for all I care, but I for sure know your ass will be in school before that first bell rings. And I'll know it will be because I'll call and check."

"It will," I mumbled, feeling a headache from repressed anger emerging. "I wasn't planning on taking a day off tomorrow…"

He stared down at me, lips pursed to repress the sneer he wanted to express. I lowered my eyes to the counter, desperately wanting to leave but not wanting to look anymore ashamed than I really was.

"Get in your room and study," he said dismissively, shoving the quizzes across the counter at me.

With a heavy heart and a heavier sigh, I took the quizzes and then reached for the fruit bowl on the counter. Taking a couple of apples, I hurried down the hall as I heard the front door open, signaling my moms arrival.

I shoved the evening my dad referred to away, buried it back in the depths of my brain.

As I entered my room, lit by the yellow light from the lamp on the desk, I felt the headache push against my eyes. I felt the sting in the bridge of my nose build, the hot tears well up.

With a deep breath and a heavy sniff, I gently wiped under my waterline and stared up at the ceiling to let the tears fall back inside.

Minoru sat in the middle of the floor with one of my textbooks, and I dug through my satchel to find another subject to work on. Sitting at my desk, I stared blankly at a picture of a blastula, unable to push away my emotions. I stayed silent so Minoru wouldn't know to turn around and ask what was wrong.

* * *

**Kazuma.**

I looked away from the dark, overhanging clouds to Urameshi when I heard his voice again.

"That bastard Kamiya knew about the hole and was still willing to open it regardless," Urameshi said, biting into his melon bread as he talked about the doctor.

"So… they all know what they're doing? Like, they're not brainwashed?" I asked, biting the mouth of my taiyaki. *****

"Yup." He talked with his mouth full.

What?! The hell is wrong with these people?

"I can't wrap my head around that!" I groaned.

"That humans want to destroy humanity?"

"Yeah, what the hell?"

He shrugged. "Well, we have two weeks left to find the creator of the tunnel otherwise they get what they want."

I just couldn't get it. Yeah, there were bad people in the world that had a lot coming to them, but to take out all humanity with them? Even the ones opening the tunnel were going to die! Dealing with youkai was no joke if you were a human, and then to let a whole bunch of A-class and up youkai come through? The Elder Toguro was already a handful at the tournament—chills ran down my spine thinking of having to deal with a bunch of youkai just as strong as him.

These people were A-class psychos!

My grumbling was cut short when Botan's voice came out of nowhere. "Yusuke, it's terrible!"

Well, I knew that since I could see her she brought her human body to meet us. I could feel a strange presence when she was a ghost; there was an eerie, cold feeling that hovered around me when she was waiting for her body. But I still couldn't see her. I wondered when I'd get my reiki back to functioning.

She pushed the door to the roof open, scanning the roof for us in Sarayashiki's school girl uniform.

"Botan? What's wrong?" He shoved the rest of his bread in his mouth as she raced towards us.

"It's opening in a _week!"_ she shouted, setting the briefcase down in front of us as Yusuke choked on the bread.

I found myself spitting out bits of bean paste in surprise. She opened the briefcase, showing a black screen that I would otherwise be able to see Koenma on.

"Just the other day you said we had two weeks!" Urameshi argued.

"Just listen to Koenma!" Botan snapped, pushing Urameshi's eyes to the black, quiet screen.

Seconds passed, and Urameshi's face continued to get more disgruntled by the minute. What was I missing? This losing-my-reiki thing really blowed.

"What's going on, Urameshi?!" I snapped. "Come on, explain it to me! I can't hear or see a thing."

"Uh…" He grimaced as he looked towards me. "I don't understand it either. It's a bunch of science mumbo-jumbo."

Dumbfounded, I stared him down. "What."

"Look, all I know is we've only got one week left! He said the tunnel's being made underground, so I'm thinking the sewers."

"Why the sewers?" I questioned. "Wouldn't we have felt it more in the city then? Kurama led us to a mountain. Aiko said it was most likely in a cave."

Urameshi paused and eyed the black screen. "I never thought I'd say this but thank God for Aiko. The tunnel's in a big cave on the outskirts of the city."

I nodded. Sounded about right.

"Good, we know where it is so we can go take care of it!" He stood up, raring to go. "Come on, we need to call Kurama and head to the cave!"

...Now?

I stood slowly, debating.

After Rando, the four saint beasts, the Toguro brothers, the Dark Tournament itself, the ticket brawl… I realized this past year I'd done nothing but fight for my life. Yeah, I spent time playing video games and hanging out with my friends but in the back of my head I always was on the lookout, anticipating some sort of upcoming danger, waiting for Botan to bring bad news. It was like we could never go more than a few months without something popping up.

I wanted nothing more than to take just a few hours for myself. That Megallica concert was the perfect way for me to do that.

Just me and my friends, listening to our favorite band, no worries…

"Kuwabara?" Urameshi called to me. "What's wrong?"

"Well," I hesitated, but knew I had to assert myself to get it across to him that there was a serious reason for me to refuse. "I can't go today."

"What? Why? You have a stomach ache? That's why I don't eat those taiyaki's from here, man. Shit's just plain gross."

"No. Not exactly."

"What? What's wrong? Be clear! You havin' your period?"

"I should tell Aiko you said that," Botan remarked, to which Urameshi cringed at the thought of her getting upset.

"Well, you see…" I dug into my pocket, pulling out the tickets and holding them up gingerly with a sheepish smile. "Tonight's the Megallica concert."

I was expecting their reactions. The two of them seemed dumbstruck that I'd give up on this mission to go have fun, but damn it. I needed this.

It was then that Okubo, Kirishima, and Sawamura appeared at the door behind them.

"Come on! We're going to be late!" they called.

Urameshi quickly took off on me, sending punches that I didn't have time to dodge. It turned into a fight, because no way was I going to let him throw fists without getting a blow or two in myself.

"Are you completely stupid or what?!" he snapped.

"If you're mocking Megallica, I'll kill you!" We were quickly broken up by our own irritation, not wanting to be in contact with each other. I pushed away the stinging pain in my face. "Besides, if you had a ticket for the finals of a martial arts competition, wouldn't you do the same thing?!"

Urameshi paused, torn between what he wanted to do and what he wanted to say.

"He's hesitating…" Botan sighed in disappointment.

"I fought like the devil to get these tickets!" I asserted. "I've been waiting for this for a year and I finally _actually_ get to see them! Even if the Earth was about to explode I wouldn't care! I'm going to this concert!"

"Fine, fine!" Urameshi snorted, digging his pinky in his ear to soothe it from my yelling. "Without your reiki you're just dead weight anyway."

"You take that back!" I latched onto his collar and pulled him up face-to-face.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he snickered. "If you get assaulted without me there to help, you're doomed!"

"Go to hell! I'm a man. I don't need your services to survive, you idiot!"

He shrugged in reply, looking like a monkey with his stupid shit-eating smile. We were glaring at each other just a second later and ready to duke it out once more, but a familiar voice caught our attention.

"What?" The three of us glanced to each other briefly as my friends waited patiently, and we quickly recognized the voice.

"Oh, no!" Botan hissed and ran towards the roof door, away from the chain link fence at the edge of the roof.

"What?" I asked again.

"Is that Aiko?" Urameshi asked in disbelief as he looked past fence and down to the street below.

I followed behind him, finding her small figure. She stood before our gate, hair in a high pony-tail and dressed in attire I didn't usually see her in.

"She's… she's not going with you to the concert, is she?" he gaped.

"Yeah, she's the one that made the contest so I could have a shot at getting the tickets!"

He paused and then spoke.

"Well, good! Then there's someone there to protect you if all goes wrong!" he laughed obnoxiously loud.

"Screw you, man!"

His tone changed instantly, though, as he looked down at her impatient figure. "She knows how big the crowds get there, right?"

I hesitated. "Yeah…?"

Tongue in cheek, he shrugged.

"Why?"

"She won't have time to defend herself while she's defending you."

"Bite me, Urameshi!" I waved him off dismissively before flipping him off.

"Just make sure you don't tell her our plans. The last thing we need is her following us to the cave."

What? "She's the one who found the cave!"

"Yeah but if she doesn't know _when_ we're going then she can't follow us!" Urameshi asserted.

Botan nodded. "We have to make alibis."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay! I won't say anything to her." I made my way to Okubo, Kirishima, and Sawamura to make our way to the front gate.

We stepped foot near the gate and I watched her begin adjusting her jean vest in boredom. Finally, as we stepped a bit closer, she noticed us.

"Christ, _finally!"_ She threw her hands up as we all proceeded to hop the closed gate. "I've been yelling for like ten minutes! The teacher in that third floor room is mugging me really nasty. He's ready to call security on me, I can smell it."

I landed with a small "oof" and the guys' shoes scuffing the concrete could be heard behind me seconds later. I straightened up and apologized to her.

"Sorry, we were just dealing with some stuff." I moved out of the way, putting my friends in her line of sight. "This is Okubo, Kirishima, and Sawamura. Guys, this is Aiko. She's the one who set up the contest for the tickets."

She eyed them briefly as I said their names, like she was taking in certain aspects about them. Like how Okubo was heavier, or how Sawamura's buzzcut was recently done, or how Kirishima's hair could be either a dark blond or brown depending on the lighting.

Her eyes scanned over them slowly before she smiled.

"Hey!" She stood where she was, waving to them as a group as they returned the gesture and greeting.

Since I'd introduced her like a friend, they were alright with her right off the bat. She played with the neck of her black t-shirt as the guys tried getting to know her.

Sawamura was first. "What's your favorite album?"

"Oh, uh. The one Kuwabara let me borrow." She shrugged. "My coworker used to play it in the break room sometimes but he's really obnoxious so I would tune it out." She got a laugh out of the guys, but I wasn't sure if they were being polite or if they really thought it was funny. "But I really like Enter Sandman… oh, and The Unforgiven is pretty good."

"I hear they're going to play Enter Sandman," Kirishima said.

"I heard it's The Black Album, so I'm hoping all those songs are played," Okubo said.

"So would you be able to get us tickets to Ultradeath's concerts?" Sawamura asked.

"I don't know about that… I just know a guy." She shrugged, hands dipping into her pockets. "Kuwabara may be able to talk to him about it. Hirogawa likes getting concert requests."

"Yeah, man! You won these fair and square and we only had to chip in a couple thousand yen each so you could participate!" Sawamura slapped me on the back and I cracked a smile. "We can do that again!"

Aiko nodded and she gestured to the tight jeans she wore. "Don't you guys have to get ready? Or are we going in our school uniforms? Because I could have saved some time ditching fourth hour if I knew that."

"Oh, shit, you're right," Sawamura noted and then turned to me. "We'll meet you guys at the station, then?"

I nodded. "Yeah, man. We'll be there in about an hour."

"I guess I'll go with you then?" she asked me.

"Sure."

When we split up, heading down the street separate ways from the guys, Aiko was the first to speak.

"They seem nice," she said. "I think we'll have a fun night."

"Yeah, are you like…" I hesitated, not wanting to see her the way I usually did when she was upset. "Claustrophobic?"

"Uh," she paused and then shrugged. "Yeah… I guess."

"Just that I noticed how you get on trains and stuff, and then Urameshi told me to watch out for you at the concert, so I figured you don't like crowded places."

"He said that?" she grumbled.

I nodded, wondering if she was going to hit him when she next saw him. I kind of wanted her to since it'd be funny.

"Yeah, it's something like claustrophobia, I guess," she said again with a shrug and then quickly changed the subject. "So I see you have a girlfriend?"

My face burned at the thought of Yukina. Who told her about Yukina?

"Well, she's—I want her to be—she's—_"_

"I saw you really got the hots for her," she teased. "Who is she?"

"Miss Yukina," I replied, exhaling heavily to cool myself off and rid the redness from my face.

Aiko pondered a bit, trying to really remember who Yukina was.

"Yeah, the little blue haired girl I saw at the bus stop, right?" I nodded in response. "Well, she's cute!"

She wasn't just cute! She was absolutely beautiful. And it wasn't just her pretty, icy blue hair, or her soft, warm smile, or the way she was so caring and considerate about everyone and thing around her. It was everything about her.

"—she human?"

Her voice pulled me from my thoughts and I turned to Aiko. "Huh?"

"She's not human, is she?"

"Oh. Uh, no. She's not. She's what they call an ice maiden in Makai."

We walked in silence for another long while, and I didn't feel like talking to her with the way her aura seemed to change.

She spoke though, and hesitated first before glancing down to the sidewalk. "Does that… make you feel weird at all?"

I could kind of see where she was taking this. "Well, a bit, I guess. But I'm kind of used to being around youkai now so I don't think about how she's not really human."

And then she asked something I never once thought about. "Would you still like her if she didn't have the human façade?"

The question took me by surprise. It actually made me think. Was the only reason I gave her my undivided, completely devoted attention because of her looks? Well, it was what made me want to see her, rescue her—but... but I would have done that for anyone in need no matter how beastly they were!

"What about you?" I asked when the walk signal lit up across the street.

She waited for a minute before speaking. She stared down at the asphalt road.

"I like to think I would…"

I never thought about this! I didn't want to! I really loved Yukina and yeah, so I initially went to save her because she was beautiful… I would have agreed anyway had I seen anyone treated like that. Her beautiful looks were just a perk in the entire package that was considerate, respectful Miss Yukina.

"I think I would, too…" I walked ahead of her, and she trailed behind me. "Why're you thinking about stuff like this? I thought you really liked Kurama."

After we stepped on the sidewalk, it took me a minute to realize she stopped walking. I turned back to find her at the cross walk.

"I'm going to ask you this in confidence because I figure you of all people will understand, okay?" she said, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"…Okay."

"If Yukina looked more… like a _youkai_…" I guess I could see where she was taking this, since I saw all kinds of youkai on the tournament island. I guess she meant more like a monster. "Can you honestly say you'd still love her... or like her, or whatever it is you feel for her?"

I paused, remembering back to the tournament. I could remember when Risho was about to kill me. I was seconds away from death, sending out my goodbye's best I could. But then I saw her, heard her cheer for me.

It wasn't just her looks. It was the fact she was _there for me,_ to support me. Seeing her there was what gave me the strength to win. A second wind, one that was cold and woke you right up.

"…Yeah, I think I can say I would," I said, and her eyes hit the floor as she nodded. "I don't know why you're bringing this up and getting all concerned, but I remember the bus stop."

She bristled and her eyes snapped open as a bright red flushed over her face. She refused to look up at me.

"You don't look at someone like that if you don't feel something for them," I said. "And that kind of something doesn't just get tossed away because they suddenly look different."

She shifted her weight on one foot and a smile graced her face, like she was proud of herself. She looked up to me and walked to my side, and patted me on the shoulder.

"You know what? You're right. Let's forget about this and go see Megallica."

I was glad she changed the subject. I didn't want to get mixed up in their relationship drama. I wanted to get punched in the face and knocked out in the pit.

"Hell yeah! I worked hard for those tickets! This is going to be great."

We had idle talk as we continued our way to my house, and she unzipped her boots as we walked into my home. I could hear the TV from the living room. A laugh track played while I slid my shoes off.

I called down the hallway. "Who's home?"

"Me," Sis called from the living room.

"Thanks for having me," Aiko said as we walked down the hallway.

"You're home early, Kazu," Sis noted as she straightened from her slouched position on the couch. "And you brought Aiko."

"Hey, Shizuru," she greeted. "We're going to the Megallica concert."

"I'm going to change," I said, heading towards the stairs. "I'll be home later tonight."

"I'll wait down here for you," Aiko said as she took a seat next to Sis.

"You two sure you should be goofing off tonight?" Sis asked, lowering the volume of the TV. "It's supposed to rain later."

"I'll dance throughout the night through rain, snow, or hail," I asserted. "A little rain isn't going to stop me from going to this concert."

"That's not what I meant," Sis dismissed with a sigh, but I already made it to the second floor and whatever she said next just turned into mumbles to land on Aiko's ears.

I knew what she meant but I pushed that thought away instantly as I began changing. I didn't care what was going on tonight; nothing was going to bring me down. Not Aiko's words, not Sis' words, not Urameshi's words. Nobody's words. Nothing.

Just for one night I was going to have fun and not worry about anything. I wasn't going to look out for the creator, for dangerous youkai—I wasn't going to look out for nothing.

Tonight was me and my friends.

* * *

**Aiko.**

I probably shouldn't have come. I was in way over my head, and though it was sprinkling in the early night, my surroundings were bright as the setting sun.

The concert hadn't even started yet and we already spent a few hours in line waiting to get in (and we were "early"). I just... didn't want to maneuver through that crowd. Was there a way I could get out of here? I almost wished I was with Shizuru on her couch drinking a screwdriver.

_She leaned on the couch's armrest, legs pulled up underneath her as she twisted her wrist around to swirl her drink. She turned the volume down on the TV again and glanced to me, and I could hear the ice clink in her glass. I watched the show with little interest, noting from the samurai skit that it had to be a Kato-chan Ken-chan Gokigen TV rerun. __******_

_"You guys should be careful tonight, you only got back from that place a few days ago," she said._

_"Don't worry about it," I replied, tucking my feet under my bottom as I mimicked her sitting position. "Besides, I don't think they'd come up here. They have to worry more about their precious tunnel."_

_"Kazuma told me you guys were followed at one point," she said, side-glancing to me. "I wouldn't doubt they got a good look at you all."_

_I sniffed, uncomfortable at the thought of being followed home. I then forced a laugh, tried to ease her conscious and mine._

_"Don't worry about it! We're not the ones that need to be followed, you know?" I reassured her, waving my hand around dismissively. "It's Yu that needs to watch his back, he was the one in the fight—I heard he got other information about the creator too. So—"_

_"Save it, girl." She took a sip of her drink as my hand quickly sunk to my lap. "False confidence does you as much good as it does me."_

_After a few seconds of building tension, I swallowed the lump that'd been forming in my throat. "You… you really think someone followed us home? Did you see something?"_

_"No. I just have a bad feeling about tonight," she mumbled, the rim of the glass still touching her lips. "It's like a bad feeling in the air. It doesn't just feel like rain's coming."_

_With a small exhale, I watched the show with her, waited patiently for Kuwabara to trot downstairs and tell me we could go. I didn't want to think about another battle—not when I was already awaiting one of my own at the pavilion._

_"I… I think we'll be fine…" I managed._

_"Yeah, I hope so too," she replied to my real words._

"You ever get in a mosh pit before, Aiko?" Okubo asked.

I snapped out of my trance and pushed my eyes away from the crowd of mainly men to find him staring at me with a wide, chubby smile.

I laughed nervously as he took off his baseball cap and set it on his head backwards. "No. This isn't exactly my kind of scene…"

"You'll get used to it quick!" Kirishima encouraged me, leaning down to speak over the loud crowd.

"Yeah, Aiko! It's going to be fine!" Kuwabara reassured me. "You just jump in and let the music take you!"

It was then, before Sawamura could encourage me, that the band made their entrance. The crowd around us was so loud, so heavy in excitement that I was beginning to chicken out. I could feel my face heating up as the lights brightened on the stage, tears stinging the corners of my eyes as a cloud of dry ice built up around the band's feet.

I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to ruin their night. But I was regretting coming.

"Do mosh pits just start anywhere?" I asked loudly, pulling Sawamura down to speak directly in his ear.

Thankfully, the crowd was loud enough to block out the sudden pitch in my voice.

"Yeah!" Sawamura replied. "Usually there's one really big one that just gets built up but other, smaller ones start too."

I wanted to go home.

Heavy drums started their opening song, and I inched away from the group when the guitar kicked in. Instantly, everyone began moving, and I blinked away the tears.

Kuwabara was quick to run to me, convincing me to stay.

"It'll be fine, Aiko! I promise!" he reassured. "Just dance, you don't have to get into the pit. Here, I'll stay with—"

My heart spiked at his words. "No, go! I'm not being responsible for your lame time. Go! I'll be fine. I'm not going anywhere."

If I left I had a feeling Kuwabara would hunt me down to make sure I was all right. I wasn't going to be responsible for his shitty time here.

He deserved this break; I wasn't going to ruin it. If only I could stand the idea of getting stuck in a pit. The hip-hop concerts I'd been to, albeit few, were _not_ this heated. We passed around rolled cigarettes and danced—we didn't do _pits,_ we didn't clamber together like this.

Kirishima was the first to approach me as everyone around us began dancing wildly to the music picking up.

"You've never been to a metal concert?" he asked, practically screaming over the music that spanned this far into the crowd.

I shook my head.

"Just fight invisible ninjas!" he laughed. "It's easy. Watch!"

Practically flailing, he twisted his body, lifting his feet in various positions in the exciting dance. He really did look like he was fighting invisible ninjas—and I laughed at the sight. I had to join in at that point, just as the music got heavier, but was careful to make sure I wasn't swinging my arms blindly.

Rain truly began, coming down heavily in droves, and though I was upset about sticking it out in the cold, I soon realized dancing would keep me warm.

Okubo and Kuwabara soon joined us as well, dancing and head banging in our own circle. Kirishima was my leverage. I used his shoulder for support as I jumped up and down, fist pumping to the songs I knew. With each passing song, Kuwabara and the boys disappeared intermittently in nearby pits, but one of them always stayed with me to dance in the crowd.

It was when I was with Okubo that someone rammed into me with their shoulder before bouncing off and running away. Shocked, jolted, I stumbled backwards.

Okubo was quick to make sure I didn't fall into another crowd.

"Circle pit!" A boy behind us cheered and shoved past us to join the running crowd that circled in front of us and grew ever bigger.

Just as the fastest song I'd heard from them came on, too.

Okubo looked like he wanted to jump in, so I loudly encouraged him to join. And with some forbearance, he obliged and jumped into the circle, quickly skipping a bit to match the pace before blending in to the group.

I watched the small circle form and grow before me. People passed by at such a quick pace, dancing to their heart's content, jumping on each other out of fun, shoving out of excitement. Though I knew everyone was taking this for themselves to have fun, the aggression was clear in the circle, the atmosphere was violent and thick.

The aggression.

Slowly, the circle morphed into a closer knit ball, becoming a new pit in itself. The music slowed and the guitar became more noticeable with a tune that I could distinguish. The breakdown began, and the pit—no, the entire crowd—chanted with their chorus.

What was I going to do? Go to a Megallica concert and spend it on the sidelines because I was too caught up in the past? That was why I agreed on the roof to come: to try.

But this concert was majority men. Grown men. Adult men.

I waited, watching the pit grow ever bigger as more people joined. I would either have to maneuver further back in the crowd to get away from it or let it consume me.

It was then I noticed a boy closer to my age who fell in the pit, tripped over his own two feet, and was quickly helped up by another. Kuwabara was in the crowd too, along with his friends, releasing all his pent-up frustrations and stresses over the past year.

I deserved that too, even if my problems were different.

My aggression would be channeled into the pit, I would be prepared. They would feel my anger too, just as I felt theirs from over here.

I waited for the guitar solo to jump in the thick crowd. I braced myself, arms sturdy yet fluid to accommodate the rough movements from everyone around me. I pushed back as others rammed into me, sending me into another.

An elbow or three to the face and a load of pain later, I got the hang of the footwork needed to survive in the pit. Soon, I made it closer to a dancing Kuwabara, who shoved me from him without much thought.

I didn't blame him; I wasn't even angry. It was invigorating, exciting. That touch wasn't the same as the others: it wasn't entitlement. I slammed into the person that happened to be on my predetermined course and pushed myself off him.

I became aggressive in seconds. Passionate, feeding off other's emotions and pouring them back out in the crowd through contact with another. All these years and it was almost as if I was getting each of these men back, as if I was letting them know the anger I held for them. And I felt their anger—I was their coworker, their sister, their abuser, their mother, their daughter, their boss.

I was a faceless being, one with autonomy and identity, but a nameless figure. I was the scapegoat for their anger as they were mine, but between us all, the hatred wasn't tangible. It didn't exist between _us._

Stimulated, overloaded, my raw emotions kept me pushing through despite the ever-growing tunnel vision. I shoved back. I danced wildly, without practice or or care or talent.

It was then through the force of physics and chance that Kuwabara grew closer to me in the pit again, and I took advantage of our proximity to jump on his back.

He was shocked for a minute, ready to fight, until he recognized my boots, and he then scooped his arm under one of my legs to hold me up. I wrapped the other around his torso and one arm around his neck for support as he danced freely.

The song was clearer up here, lyrics crystal despite the audible, heavy pour of rain. It was from the album he let me borrow. I knew the words.

Kuwabara could be heard below me, belting out the lyrics as his fist pumped the air, and I couldn't help but send my bird flying high to everyone on the floor as I sang along, voice mixing in with his. I could hear the other's voices too, and looking down I found his friends pushed against us. Sawamura's arm wrapped around Kuwabara's neck.

I could hear it in Kuwabara's voice, feel it in the way he danced recklessly, that he was letting loose, having fun.

We all screamed the lyrics, singing our throats raw—and none of them cared I messed up some words.

I didn't care I was battling tunnel vision. All I had to do was wait until my body calmed down and I could jump back in. Kuwabara bounced around, holding on tight to my leg to keep me from falling.

It was then that the guitar died down and the song ended that the lead singer began ordering us around. The drums died out too, the bass next, and all we could hear were the orders. His words rang around and above us clearly, echoing slightly.

_Make way, fuckers! Come on! Make fucking way!_

Quickly, better than a class of grade schoolers with ADHD after lunch time, everyone cleared away from each other. It was like there was an invisible line between two new crowds.

I stayed on Kuwabara's back as he took us with our half of the stadium. I stared the other half in the face, watching everyone bounce on their heels in excitement, some still dancing outright, others huffing and puffing and looking for violence.

"Should I get off?" I asked, watching everyone jumping around, anxious to partake in this little activity.

"Think you can handle a wall of death?" Kuwabara asked, and I tried to stutter out an unsure reply. "It's cool, Aiko. Your first time for all this—better if you stay up there, don't you think?"

With a deep breath, I hopped off his back and he let go of my leg. I steadied myself as the lead singer continued talking.

_On my mark! Don't go until I say! Don't fucking go until I say!_

Looking through the rain, I scanned the dark area for our friends, finding Sawamura and Kirishima across from us on the other side of the invisible line. Heart pumping in my throat, I looked around for Okubo, finding him right next to us.

"Don't trip over your feet, Aiko!" Kuwabara yelled, and I nodded. "You could get trampled to death in this crowd!"

_This is war! You're out for blood! Kill. Every. One. No man left standing!_

I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, feeding off the adrenaline in the air—tunnel vision far away. Bound to return sometime, but not now. I could breathe. That wall of men—wall of death—I was ready for it.

This was my revenge, the beginning of my redemption.

I looked around the stadium, finding a straight line of clearing the entire way down. The entire stadium was split in half, all eager. _The biggest Wall of Death I've ever seen _were words fleeting around in excitement.

Kuwabara was the most eager in the entire crowd, bouncing on his feet, left then right, left then right. He had the cheesiest, happiest grin I'd ever seen plastered on his face.

The drums picked up heavily, the guitar followed, and with a low growl in the mic, his voice began to grow louder into a roar—and we stormed the open space at the butchered "go."

We ran to each other, each side of the stadium screaming battle cries over the lyrics being shouted by people in the back. We collided. We fought. It was a war for power. Though I was weak, and the men around me forced me back with ease, I fought with my arms out, shoving back and molding between the waves of people.

But I wasn't alone as I was pushed around, because behind me were sturdy arms, there for support—blind siblings there to fight back. I watched in the crowd around me as people climbed over others only to get carried away or fall into the arms of another. Elbows were flung around blindly, people were shoved recklessly, and I took a busted lip with stride.

Despite knowing I wouldn't want to be touched for the next few weeks after this, we pushed and jumped and climbed and shoved back until the war dispersed into a giant pit.

Our group took time out of the pit every few songs, letting us catch our breath and stabilize ourselves before jumping back in to feed off each other's vibes once more. And again and again, we found a rhythm until the last song was played. And again and again, we found each other in the crowd to regroup and laugh and smile and dance.

It was absolutely pouring by the time the concert ended, and I wanted nothing more than for someone to drag me home by my boot. I leaned my hand on Okubo's shoulder for leverage as we walked along the empty neighborhood street, hoping to catch my breath and not fall face first into the wet pavement below.

"That was _greaaaaat_!" Kirishima yelled, aggression still eager to be let loose, though I knew it would disperse in the rain as we slowed our pulses on the walk home.

"It was so worth the wait!" Okubo agreed as he wiped his bloody nose, and I soon caught my breath and straightened myself.

"Thanks for setting up the contest, Aiko!" Sawamura said.

"_I'm_ not the one you need to thank!" I waved it off, lifting my face to let the cold rain cool me down, despite my make-up running even more. "Thank the guy who won the tickets!"

"You sure it wasn't your first Megallica concert?" Kuwabara asked with a silly grin.

I nodded and wiped the blood off my chin. "I'm usually at a chiller place, fewer people than that. _Way_ fewer people. Speaking of which—" I turned to the other three boys. "I'm getting us all tickets to Chan Da Rappar! I tested your band; you're going to test my artist."

"I'm down!" Sawamura chimed, to which all boys agreed.

"What about karaoke now?" Okubo suggested. "There's a twenty-four hour one open nearby."

"My throat's run raw, man," Kirishima sighed, but then laughed. "But fuck it, I'm up for that."

"Yeah… maybe…" Kuwabara replied slowly.

How late was it? I remembered sitting on the couch instantly.

"We deserve some fun," I said, almost whining. I stared him down, watching him ponder over his responsibilities. With one deep breath, I encouraged him. "_You_ definitely do. Come on, _Kazuma_!"

The ginger-haired boy cast a quick glance at me before wiping his hand over his face in thought.

Grumbling to himself, he gripped his hand into a fist. "_Alright_! We're singing karaoke until we can't even grunt without feeling pain!"

"Yes!" My hands flew into the air.

It was then I felt the thickness in the air, something heavy, sticky. It enveloped me with ease, with desire. I paused in my stride, unsure of where I felt the familiar feeling before.

"Where's the karaoke place you're talking about, Okubo?" Kazuma asked.

"There's one a few blocks from here, it's near the train station."

"Huh?" Kirishima's voice caught my attention.

He looked around us in the pouring rain as we stepped under a nearby street light.

"Sawamura?" he called and looked around for the boy who disappeared. He then laughed, making fun of Sawamura. "All this water! You were going to wet yourself, I bet! Hurry and zip up your pants so we can go."

I eyed the dark street, where we were headed, though I couldn't shake the strange shift. I couldn't help but feel a few yards away the air was colder, clearer.

Kirishima's scream sent my brain into overload, forcing it to piece everything together quickly. A territory.

Shizuru was right.

"Kuwabara, what is that thing?!" Kirishima's scream sent us into a panic, turning to view him and a strange water monster, resembling something close to the human anatomy, that formed from the puddles below.

Even out of _everything_ I'd seen so far, the fucking water monster was taking the cake. How could a youkai possibly be made of—_no_, it wasn't a youkai. It was a territory. Someone could control water. Someone made that.

The enemy flicked its finger, extending indefinitely, sucking up the water around it to extend and—Kazuma leapt in front of Kirishima, reaching out his hand to take the blow of the sharp water. Blood poured out of the fresh wound in Kazuma's palm.

I couldn't fathom how it could become so sharp in liquid form without accelerating at an accommodating velocity. It really wasn't _that _fast...

"Kazuma!" I ran to the group, unwilling to be left alone in the group at such a critical time. I was a walking target.

The three of us hovered around Kazuma as the enemy morphed into its natural liquid state and dropped to the puddles below, blending.

"Kuwabara, are you alright?" Kirishima asked.

"Where's Sawamura? What's happening?" Okubo was next to panic.

"We're fucked. Shizuru was right," I muttered to myself, breathing erratically. "We're goners."

What use was I? If we were up against a person I'd have a speck of a chance to defend myself, but this was water. What the fuck was I going to do, karate chop a puddle?

"Shut up, Aiko! Don't talk like that," Kazuma hissed before looking around and raising his voice. "Come on! Show yourself!"

It was then a small figure stepped out of the darkness and under another nearby street lamp. A kid. A fucking kid. I couldn't see his face since it was covered by the shade of his jacket's hood, but his stature, his height, was definitely that of a teenager.

I could take him. Kick him in the balls, watch him drop and cry like the little bitch he was.

"I was waiting for the rain," he said as another water being appeared behind him, a larger version of the last one. "My powers are stronger when it rains."

Nope, nevermind.

"I'm dreaming," Okubo mumbled. "I'm totally dreaming."

Another similar enemy moved out from behind the kid, dragging Sawamura with him into sight. The battered boy I was just dancing with not even a half hour ago was unconscious, held up by his neck by the monster.

"I don't want to be unfair," the kid said with a grin. "So I'll probably just kill you all."

"Sawamura!" Kazuma called to the boy in hopes of waking him, but he didn't stir.

"I've followed you for a while, Kuwabara," the kid said. "Especially since your powers are gone." He cast a glance to me. "I couldn't follow _you_ around, but since you happen to be here, I'll handle you too. Can't have you finding us."

How could he know...? Unless…

"He's the one who was following us in the outskirts of Mushiyori," I hissed to Kazuma, who was readying himself to throw his fists around.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Okubo snapped at Kazuma, and then look to Kirishima in hopes of him somehow knowing when the ginger didn't answer.

"I don't know, but this is _for real_," Kirishima replied, readying himself as well.

Kazuma hesitated, watching the kid warily. I stepped back, knowing I couldn't fight. Maybe if I told the enemy I already sent information in, I'd be useless to him.

Then the possibility arose—that could be grounds for getting killed. Best I just run.

"I'll show you how to create them," the kid said, peeling a band-aid off his index finger. "The beings."

A drop of blood fell into a puddle below him, and the water then began to move at his mental command, growing into another being.

"The more blood I add, the stronger it gets!" the kid said proudly.

"Kazuma, I'm _gone_," I hissed, and he nodded.

"Yeah, get out of here and get help!"

Okubo laughed to himself. "I'm totally dreaming. Fucking dreaming."

I sprinted down the secluded street, hoping to find a payphone close by. If I could get hold of Kurama or Yu then this could be okay!

"Aiko!" Kazuma's scream jolted me.

I knew what was going to happen. He wouldn't let me get away.

Without much thought, I lifted my leg and pivoted on the foot that was planted sternly in the puddle below me. I kicked back in hope, watching my foot drag through its lower abdomen, slicing it in half.

Its halves splashed on my face and to the ground below, but once I could open my eyes I looked around for the being. Nowhere to be seen, it blended into the puddles. Kazuma looked relieved in the distance as I eyed my perimeter to make sure it was gone.

I quickly gathered myself and began running again. I didn't make it far as a hand, one I knew formed from the puddles, reached up and grabbed my boot, yanking my foot.

I fell face first into the hard cement below. Water engulfed my body. In less than a second, I was lifted off the ground, into the hands of a new water giant.

I couldn't scream. Fear tightened my throat to where I forgot how to breathe.

"Let her go!" Kazuma demanded as I felt the cold air on my wet clothes and skin as the giant finished morphing. "Let her and Sawamura go! I'm the man you want, right?!"

I was stuck in its new grip, held close to its chest by its thick arm.

"Idiot!" the kid laughed, dropping another speck of blood into the water leisurely with a limp wrist. "This is a perfect opportunity. Two-for-one."

"Let them go!" Kirishima yelled, fists up and ready to go as another being formed. He sprinted at the new foe.

Kazuma was the only one with his head screwed on and I couldn't find my voice. "Kirishima, don't!"

The new being charged at the brunet boy, leaping into the air to punch him in his gut. Blood spurted from his mouth on contact and he flew back from the force, skidding across the wet ground.

Kazuma and Okubo then charged to the kid, cornered into fighting. The being that held me was still, its only movement the flowing of water in its contained space. I shoved my elbow into its torso, but my arm merely entered the mass, having no effect on it otherwise.

The kid's laugh brought me back to Kazuma and Okubo, whose attacks were pointless, as their hands only went through the water… or the beings shifted around their form to avoid having their bonds broken. Okubo took multiple blows to the face and was knocked back, blacking out for a moment as he landed in a large puddle.

"Didn't you see what happened to her?" the kid laughed. "It's water! If it breaks, it just rebonds!"

As I tried wriggling myself out of the monsters grip, I saw other smaller beings form and gather Kirishima and Okubo while one flung Kazuma around like a rag doll. They dragged my new friends to the one that held Sawamura and merged with it, shoving the boys together in the water giant's growing arms.

It was then, as the water enemy grew in size, my captor headed towards theirs. With just one touch, the two began merging, bonding into an even larger threat, and I was carried by the waves and smashed up next to Sawamura.

"If you hurt them, I swear to god I'll make you pay!" Kazuma yelled. "You're not going to get away with this."

The kid's laughter died as he pulled out what looked like a kitchen knife.

To cut himself and draw more blood? Christ.

"Have you never heard of a razor blade, you stupid piece of shit?" I griped, leaning over the arm to see the knife clearly. "Carrying around a steak knife—are you fucking serious? How dramatic…"

He glared at me, mug growing into a deep scowl at my words. I watched his snarl, saw only the dimples and lines of his skin curl around his mouth. I found myself making the same face as I glared over to him.

"Shouldn't talk like that to someone who holds your life in their hands," he snapped, but then his upper lip twitched slightly. "Doesn't matter I guess, since you'll be taken care of in a few minutes."

A small nerve in the back of my head snapped; I didn't care about his threats. I wanted to rub the news in.

"I already found out, you know," I snarled. "Already sent it in. You've already lost half the battle."

A fleeting smirk graced Kazuma's lips. "Like I said... you won't get away with this."

The kid's lips parted, jaw dropped, and then—

"_I'm_ the one ruling the game here, you idiots!" he screamed, face contorting into one of psychosis, stabbing the blade into his nearest hostage's leg—Okubo's. "I _actually_ thought of sparing these idiots at first! But now I'm just pissed!"

Okubo's screams jarred me; guilt washed over me for provoking the kid. Breath caught in my throat, I gasped out cries.

"Okubo! Hey, Okubo!" I felt warm tears wash over my face among the cold rain droplets. "Okubo! Look at me!"

Okubo cried out still, face washed over in agony as he grimaced to me, trying to bite back the pain.

"Whatever, she's disposable. I need _you_." The kid pointed the bloody knife to Kazuma, who was bristling with building anger.

"You're going to die, you little bastard!" Kazuma's voice rang out, but I knew better than to watch him get pushed back by another foe—punched away from us with ease.

"Just look at me, focus on anything but this—the sky!" I cried, voice breaking in the end. "I'm sorry! I didn't think he'd_—fuck._ I'm sorry, Okubo."

He coughed, cleared his throat. "It's not your fault."

Yes it was…

The kid laughed again as I heard Kazuma's disgruntled cries of pain. I kept my eyes off the kids I enjoyed spending time with. I didn't want to see them in pain. I didn't want to see them, not like this. I stared down at the ground, watching the rain drops create ripples in the puddles below, and water from my eyes soon fell down to join them.

"Kuwabara, come back later!" Kirishima grunted, awakening from his recent bout of unconsciousness. "We can take care of Aiko while you're gone. We can handle this until you get back!"

"You can barely take care of yourself!" I sobbed. "Look at where taking care of yourself got you!"

"Don't play the hero!" Kazuma snapped, dragging my eyes to the bloodied boy. "I'm getting you guys out of there, just calm down!"

I want Kurama. Where's Kurama? Where's Yu? My dad? Mom? Where's Kurama?

I want someone to hold me, someone _warm_. Someone caring.

Shizuru was right, we shouldn't have gone out.

The kid sucked his teeth. "That's enough; it's time to end this."

And with the snap of his fingers, the giant hunched over, tightening its grip as it engulfed us.

No. Nonononono. No. Did anyone think I could actually hold my breath? I'd be the first to go.

I want Yu. Where is he? Why couldn't I run fast enough to get away?

I wiggled away from the giant best I could, freeing an arm and reaching out for Kazuma in false hope. My body was pulled inside the cold water, and I could feel the water rush around me as I sunk inside.

I inhaled sharply, deeply, opening my mouth wide at the last possible second to inhale as much oxygen as possible. In less than a second, the water engulfed us, pulling us inside its mass. We'd slipped into a voracious animal's maw.

My fingers were the last to enter the body of water... and then the cold air surrounding the tip of my middle finger was gone.

I kept my eyes closed tight, scared to open them underwater. Vaguely, muffled, Kazuma's voice rang through the heavy water every so often, but I couldn't make out the words. I lifted my hand towards where we'd come from, but the water was only a wall—liquid, yet still solid, thick.

Desperate, I hit my fist against the wall, hearing the dull thuds echo around us—like we were trapped in a fish bowl. The boys thought the same idea too, but after a few moments we gave up, knowing we couldn't break through. The water pulled me away from the wall, carrying me with ease as I struggled to hold my breath.

Weightless in the darkness, it was as if there was nothing else in this liquid mass besides me.

Weightless. Something I always wanted to subconsciously achieve...

My throat burned for oxygen and contracted in fear and need, threatening to exert enough pressure and force my mouth open. I could hear the kid's psychotic laughter again, ringing proudly around the water as if he'd won.

Squinting open my eyes, I looked through my mascara clumped lashes. Through blurred vision, I battled to keep my mouth clamped shut. Kazuma was now next to me—wait.

Kazuma was now next to me—_inside the water_!

We're dead. Shit. Shitshitshit.

No, calm down. Kazuma was capable of saving us. He could do it. He survived the tournament, didn't he? He could do this too. He had to.

But I was going to drown. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe.

The pressure in my chest hurt, burned. I wanted to breathe. I wanted to breathe. If I opened my mouth I knew I'd lose—I'd gasp for air. I was going to die. It hurt. My chest hurt. My head hurt. My heart frantically pounded. I could hear each pump vividly, know just when each valve opened and closed in desperation.

The kid leaned in to see Kazuma as he inched to the edge of the being, swinging punches at the solid wall.

"Now you're trapped in my territory!" the kid asserted, voice hollow as it traveled through the giant's inner waves. "Only way you can get out is to kill me! But you can't get out of there!" he laughed, pointing at us. "So how are you going to kill me?! After all that talk, you're nothing!"

My lips burst apart; a desperate gasp for air pleaded from my throat and received only water in return. Begging for air, yet receiving water, the liquid spilled down my trachea instead of my esophagus.

It was excruciating—the most painful thing I'd ever experienced. It was tight, uncomfortable, terrifying. My body went into shock immediately, shaking violently while my throat and chest convulsed in desperate attempts to push the water up and receive air in return.

Instead, water continued to pour down my trachea. My hands blindly found their way to my throat, clutching it in confused desperation.

I could hear nothing but my heartbeat.

I wanted my mom and dad. I wanted Kurama. Yu. Minoru. Minoru.

Unable to swallow or properly work my throat, tunnel vision returned with a vengeance and quickly took hold of me. Kazuma's silhouette in front of me, punching desperately at the edge of the water being, was the last image imprinted in my retinas.

I could feel my thought process slowing despite the pain; I was drowsy, lethargic. Just like my heartbeat was becoming. I closed my eyes tight in the midst of the agony as I felt myself numbing, felt my conscious slipping. I conjured what I could in the darkness of my mind.

I could see the tip of his ponytail lay gently on his shoulder as he looked up at me expectantly, the corners of his lips tugging up. I caused that smile. I made someone smile like that.

I made _him _of all people smile like that.

And Kazuma would save us, so I could make him smile like that again—and my dad too. I could make him smile the way he did when he saw my acceptance letter to Meiou. I could do it again.

Because Kazuma would get us out…

The image fuzzed out slowly, and deep down I could feel myself begging to fall asleep—to make the pain go away. I faded to black, the darkness my head offered, unsure whether I'd hear the next beat of my heart… or if it'd already stopped.

* * *

**A/N:**

***** _Taiyaki_ is a fish-shaped cake, often filled with paste like red beans or sweet potato, or even chocolate. Made with pancake or waffle batter.

****** _Kato-chan Ken-chan Gokigen TV _was a popular Japanese variety show aired in the early 80's that ran until the early 90's. Had satirical skits that poked fun at the contemporary society of Japan at the time and featured funny home videos that viewers would send in.


	7. Blackbird

**_PART IV. "Blackbird."_**

* * *

_"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly.  
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

— _Lennon-McCartney._

* * *

**Aiko.**

Every nerve that spanned throughout my body was taken out and placed on the nearest hot stove, singeing black. Fire engulfed me.

When the pressure of cold water disappeared around me, I cried out in pain.

We spilled out of the monster as it split like a shattered vase and we tumbled to the ground below, settling in the deep puddles. I didn't have to look around to know Kazuma got us out with the use of his reiki—because there was no way fists were going to break through that territory.

Lying on my back, I watched as the rain poured down from the sky, droplets illuminated by the streetlamp near me. I couldn't feel the pretty droplets through the pain. From my peripheral, I could see the orange light—the feel of ki emitting from it. Kazuma succeeded; he regained control over his reiki. His and the enemy's voice could be heard a while away, their words muffled over the downpour.

Though I cared he won, the feeling was fleeting because all I could focus on was the scorching pain throughout my body. With every movement the pain ignited more, flaring and spiking with intensity as if I was ripping off my flesh and jumping straight in the heart of a fire.

I rose and the fire carried with me briefly, and then my torso was out of the flames. I rolled over on my elbow, careful with each movement to spare myself from the fire in my abdomen and below still burning in pain.

I steadied my blurry vision and saw two identical, impeccably manicured hands lying in front of me. My hand.

Identical.

My head whipped over my shoulder, wide eyes landing on my body lying underneath me. Face pale and bruised and a slight shade of blue, eyelids half closed, and… irises rolled into the back of my head. I lay still in the rain, droplets landing on my face and spilling down the curves of my cheeks.

There was no breath to truly be caught in my throat, but I felt the plethora of emotions just as I would have if I were in my body.

I pulled my hand up to my face, finding it translucent—I could see the street lamp in the distance behind it.

I screamed, crying out Kazuma's name frightfully, slowly, then hurriedly, repeatedly. I looked to where the fire was in my legs, finding I was still attached at the shins. I was too scared to roll out and remove myself—what if I couldn't get back in?

It took just seconds for Kazuma to piece together what happened. He picked up the kid he just beat and dragged him over to me as I cried and yelled incoherently—even I didn't know what I was saying anymore. Nonsensical words flew from my lips as I screamed and sobbed.

Carefully, I rolled over and lifted myself over my dead body, floating.

He knelt beside me in a panic, hands hovering over me frantically as I continued spouting out vague words, crying. Eventually, I could muster out begs, pleading for him to resuscitate me.

He was shocked, scared to see I'd actually passed over, but he quickly pulled himself together.

I didn't want to die—not yet. Not like _this_.

He placed his ear to my chest, looking for any rhythm. Instead, he lifted his gaze to me—frightened, shocked.

Did I not have a heartbeat?! Where was my heartbeat?

A heartbeat in this tiny body—wherever was my heartbeat before?

He titled my head back, chin up, and parted my lips to breathe into me. Bloodied and bruised and half-alive himself, he placed his hands in the middle of my chest and pressed repeatedly before breathing again. We stayed in the rain for what seemed like an eternity, and with the kid so exhausted he was unable to get away—forced to watch us battle death in vain.

I could do nothing but watch in fear, knowing if I had a heartbeat as a ghost I'd be able to hear it vividly in my ears. I could inch myself back inside, subject myself to the fiery agony that didn't pull me back—there was no suction to keep my soul with my body.

I could only cry, beg for Kazuma to try his hardest, even if it wouldn't work…

He let go of my mouth for the fifth time, staining my face in his blood, and leaned back towards my chest to pump. With one press, water forced out of my mouth, splurting out. My body rolled over to its side, coughing out more water.

Yet the pull to take my soul back did not appear; my body still revoked my obligation to gravity.

Kazuma glanced to me—my soul—with his beaten face and tired eyes. He then turned back to my body. He rolled my body over on its back and pumped again as I continued shaking, crying and imploring him to find a way to save me.

I didn't expect him to but I hoped. I hoped he'd come through. He was all I had right now.

Finally, he stilled. With his hands clamped over each other on my chest, he paused—had he given up?

Before I could cry and beg some more, he tried another method.

His reiki, glowing a bright orange, poured out of his hands and surrounded my chest. The suction occurred instantly. Within seconds, I was being pulled. The fiery agony gripped hold of me as I was forced back inside, covering every inch of me as I descended in the shell that was my body.

My throat forced out another small volume of water, burning my throat and nose as it shot out. Blurry vision. Kazuma's silhouette hovered above me after pushing air down my throat again, reassuring me he'd succeeded, but the pain didn't subside.

He rolled me on my side as I continued spitting up water.

I writhed in pain, and once I could breathe properly, my screams were vocal and loud. The fire didn't leave me; my body was still being ripped apart from the inside as I coughed up liquid.

My hands found their way around my head, and I squeezed tight, trying to crush my head in hopes of relieving myself from the pain. Unsure of what to do, Kazuma scooped me in his hold and pressed my face in his chest to muffle my screeching. His arms wrapped around my body to keep me from flailing around blindly.

My legs kicked wildly, body jerked dangerously under his hold. I clawed at the back of his jacket, trying to get through him so I could get to myself. The pain had to end somehow.

I couldn't tell how long the agony lasted—it felt like an eternity—but suddenly, it was like it just… stopped. Decided to quit. Die.

Like me, as darkness took hold once more.

* * *

**Kurama.**

Though I would have preferred tending to her first, with the strange new force emitting from her, Kuwabara and his friends' injuries were priority. With Botan's minor healing abilities we patched the boys up before extracting information from them.

After being told the gist of last night, I was able to toy with them the next few minutes, slipping powder under their noses individually and replacing their memories upon passing out.

It would be unfair to drag them into this mess. Instead of letting them live in fear of people like our hostage, who could control water of all things, and learn about the other two realms, I let them believe they were cornered into a gang-related fight.

I didn't place any particular names or people in their heads. It would be better to let them grumble over the imaginary enemies than have them hunt down specific people and get into more trouble. Upon waking them once more, with their newly planted memories, Botan helped me usher them out the door.

Botan followed Yusuke into his room to check on Kuwabara and the hostage as I headed to the couch in the living room where Aiko lay. Bright, late afternoon sunlight filtered through the curtains in the living room but she still hadn't stirred.

I watched as Genkai hovered over her, standing next to her on the couch and holding the ice pack to Aiko's face with one hand as she sipped tea with the other. I stood next to Genkai, noting the pensive way she looked down at the youth.

She could tell.

"You know something's different too," I noted.

"Her reiki isn't the same," she replied as I inched closer, and she let go of the ice pack to let me hold it in place. "It comes from her hands at times."

Curious, I sat on the cushion next to her sleeping form, and Genkai eyed her once more.

"It's a significant difference to how it used to be," I said, noting Botan did well cleaning off her ruined make-up. "It wasn't like this the other day."

Genkai grunted in thought and turned on her heels, heading back to the table. "There's one way to strengthen your ki in this situation." Develop a territory. "But we're not going to know what happened to her until one of them wakes up."

She went to Mushiyori and was exposed to Makai's air and the tunnel's energy. But as was noted back at the House of Four Dimensions, people subjected to developing a territory suffered from severe vomiting, fever, and fatigue for an extended period. She'd been there only a few days ago and seemed normal… So until she woke up and told us what happened, we were stumped.

There were other ways to strengthen ki, the most common being through training, then through transfer, then through death. The least common way, one that's rarely experienced, was through revival.

Even Genkai, who held no true feelings on the girl, was hoping she had developed a territory—because for ki to grow this quickly ruled out training.

"Looks like the kid's about to wake up," Yusuke called to me from the hallway, and I steadied the ice pack on her still slightly swollen cheek to stay put as I left the room.

The child would know what's wrong with her. He should be able to tell us everything—about the tunnel, why they were opening it, and why he was sent after Kuwabara.

We entered his room, finding the hostage in Yusuke's bed and Kuwabara in the corner of the room on a bean bag still out cold. The kid seemed to be dreaming, eyes darting around under his lids, becoming stimulated enough to wake.

"Think he'd be stupid enough to try his territory here?" Yusuke asked.

"I doubt it," I said. "Scare him into submission and we should be fine. He seems fragile enough."

It was then he woke, jumping in fright and sitting upright. He immediately curled in pain, feeling his unhealed wounds from Kuwabara's beating. The pain was the last thing on his mind as he noticed he was alive. The more important issue was his location. His eyes darted around the room, not yet landing on us.

"Hey!" Yusuke grinned to the boy.

He jumped again, away from our figures, and cornered himself against the wall.

"Where am I?" he demanded, features hardening.

"My room," Yusuke replied simply and then pointed to Kuwabara on the bean bag. "I spent some time looking for him and finally found him outside my apartment complex with five people on his back."

His blue eyes darted to Kuwabara and then back again to us.

"Five?" Warily, he spoke under his breath. "So she's alive?"

Yusuke cocked an eyebrow and growled at the kid. "Is there a reason she shouldn't be?"

The boy looked to us and chose his words carefully. "She wasn't our target, but I was told if we ever happened to cross paths with her we could take her out if we really wanted."

I stared down at the boy, finding my arms crossing over my chest. He glared at me with no remorse but stayed pressed against the wall. His eyes darted over me carefully, assessing my build, wondering how many ways I could handle him and hide his body.

My stare didn't falter, I wanted him to imagine.

Yusuke gritted his teeth. "Why?"

"Because she was going to find us!" he snapped. "All that talk about nature conservation areas and caves, she was on the right track. But it didn't matter if she found us. Nobody really cared, not even Gourmet."

The Makihara, no doubt.

"They just cared about Kuwabara," I replied slowly. "Why?"

They didn't care if we stormed down there tonight… they were either confident in taking us on or the tunnel was closer to opening than we thought.

He didn't answer and continued thinking—whether to lie or find a way out, I wasn't sure. From the way he stared us down, it seemed to be both.

"The three other boys are safe; we asked them about you and then sent them on their way," I said, and he winced.

"There's no use hiding anything, either!" Yusuke said. "We've got Yana with us, so you better think twice about lying."

The boy hesitated, glaring at us with a strange form of hatred. "We don't deserve to live."

The words were reminiscent of the college freshman's just a few days ago. "Who is '_we'_? Your comrades?"

"Mankind!" he snapped in response. "If you watched that tape, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about!"

Yusuke became interested. "What videotape?"

"It's called Chapter Black," he replied, sparking my interest. It was then this situation made more sense. "If you watch that, you'll see all the horrible things humanity's done."

"That's impossible," I asserted. "How could you have gotten hold—"

"You heard of it, Kurama?" Yusuke turned to me from his chair.

I regained composure with ease. "A videotape taken from Reikai's deep archives. It's a document that has thousands of hours of humanity's bad deeds. I know Hiei wanted it." I paused, piecing together my conversation with Koenma yesterday. "I knew the tape was missing, but I didn't think it would link with this case."

"You haven't seen the tape, that's why you're playing heroes!" the child snapped. "Watch that tape and see how fast your mind changes!"

"So what?!" Yusuke stood from his seat, kicking the chair out of his way as he inched towards the kid. "Because some people are fucked up we all have to pay?!"

"Yes!"

Yusuke didn't like that answer. "So we _all_ deserve to be youkai dinner?!"

"Yes!" he shuddered, voice shaking despite standing his ground. "You don't know what you're talking about! You don't know humanity's true nature."

Someone who would want to eradicate the human race and show his comrades the Chapter Black video to recruit them… Who would do this? I needed to speak to Koenma, find who was last seen with the tape. He already mentioned he had a hunch who could be behind this.

"Humans can kill their best friends and still laugh about it! I know you think you can't do it, but I'm sure you could!"

"So, you're one of them too? You're like that?" Yusuke asked casually.

"Yes!" His voice shook harder; he was on the verge of a breakdown. "We all are!"

Yusuke sucked his teeth as he bent over to pick up the chair he kicked. Setting it straight, he spoke. "You know, I asked Kuwabara while he was still half-conscious why he let you live. You know what he said?"

The boy didn't respond, but the fact he didn't respond showed he cared some.

"He said that you looked like you were waiting for someone to help you. I laughed at the time but now, looking at you, I get why."

The boy grimaced, trying to hold back his tears, but they poured out like a faucet in seconds. He muttered to himself and I feared we'd pushed him too hard. If we still wanted progress, we would be better to let him calm down first.

"We should let him rest," I told Yusuke, who nodded and headed for the door. "I don't think we have to worry about him."

As the door clicked closed, Yusuke turned to me. "A tape that shows all the bad things humans have done? Sounds scary."

"I suppose," I replied. "Average humans wouldn't last watching it five minutes and even the sickest of youkai couldn't handle more than a few hours. I'm not surprised it changed his mindset."

Yusuke shuddered. "Stop, man. You're giving me the creeps."

"It's only one aspect of humans, but I'm not surprised that tape alone changed his outlook. Very few people in Reikai were allowed to handle that tape, let alone view it."

"See, you're just trying to scare me," Yusuke grumbled, shoulders tensing.

"I'm sorry!" I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "By the way, I didn't tell you where I was yesterday. I went to see Koenma in Reikai."

"Why didn't you use one of the TVs or communicators instead?"

"I wanted to deliver the tunnel's location and… I had to see him." Yusuke waited eagerly for me to continue. "After what the boy said, it's getting clearer. Whoever stole the tape is behind this ordeal, and I think Koenma knows who stole it."

"_What_?!"

Before I could blink he was already down the hall and in the living room, opening Botan's silver briefcase and connecting to Koenma.

He yelled at the static screen as it fuzzed. "Ningenkai to Toddler, bitch! _Pick up_!"

Koenma answered immediately as I could feel a bead of sweat trickle my face.

"We want answers _now_ or I'm off the case! What the hell does this tunnel have to do with Chapter Black?!"

"Ah, so they use that video, huh?" Koenma nodded. "Makes sense, then."

"If you had suspects why didn't you tell us?! We were on a wild fuckin' goose chase!"

"We had no proof, and really, I had trouble admitting it may be the truth," Koenma mumbled.

I didn't think Yusuke could care less. "Start talking!"

He hesitated in speaking, but his tone was stern once he began. "We now believe the creator is Sensui, Shinobu. He was our last detective before you. He worked for us when he was in high school." The room grew silent as Koenma showed a picture of a teenage Sensui.

Yusuke's shoulders fell in shock at the news. "That looks like the guy I saw in Mushiyori…"

Koenma didn't seem surprised. "He disappeared over ten years ago and, presumably, took the video with him." We had no reply, and whatever else he wanted to tell us needed to be in person. "I'm coming to Ningenkai, Yusuke. Wait for me before you do anything."

Yusuke nodded before immediately shutting off the briefcase's screen. The atmosphere was heavy, uninviting of conversation with the news dealt to us.

After a moment, Yusuke turned to Botan. "What the hell?! Wouldn't you know about that guy?"

Botan, sitting next to Aiko and holding the ice pack on her face, perked up. "I haven't heard a thing about him!"

"You're the one who contacts Reikai detectives, aren't you?"

"You're the first there's been since I started this job!" she asserted and then mumbled. "Also there's the fact that I was hired as a _guide _and not as an assistant."

"So when it comes to Sensui…" I forgot, she said she'd only been with Reikai for maybe eight years, meaning the Sensui incident was even farther in Reikai's past.

"I don't know a thing!" She rubbed the back of neck with an apologetic smile.

"We'll just have to wait until Koenma arrives then," Genkai said, taking another sip from her tea.

Before anyone could agree, heavy, quick footsteps could be heard.

The four of us turned to see the hallway, finding Kuwabara rushing out of Yusuke's room without having put on pants. He seemed to not mind running to Botan in his underwear.

"Where's the fire, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked. "Is the kid gone? Did he jump out the window?!"

Kuwabara didn't reply. Instead, he headed for Aiko on the couch. Botan moved out of his way, falling off the couch and on her bottom.

He immediately grabbed Aiko's shoulders.

"Wake up!" he snapped, pulling her torso up to shake her violently. "Aiko, wake up!"

Not once had we assumed to wake her. Yusuke and I exchanged glances—was there a reason why she wouldn't wake?

The kid's comment immediately rang in my head again, asking if she was alive. She was breathing earlier when I held the pack to her face; I could feel her warm breath on the side of my hand.

"Kuwabara, what's wrong with her?!" Botan tried ripping him off her, but his grip stayed strong.

With a small gasp, she awoke. It took less than a second for her to start screaming.

"Get off me!" She bared her nails and began swiping blindly as she continued to scream. "_Get off me_!"

Kuwabara reared back and took Botan with him as he crashed to the floor. Aiko scrambled on the couch, confused, before cornering herself between the armrest and back cushion.

"The hell's going on?!" Yusuke looked between the two as I watched Aiko curl into herself, crying openly.

She held her hands out in front of her in scared marvel, breathing heavily as tears poured down her face.

"Why are you looking at your hands like that…?" Yusuke hissed, squinting at her in confusion as she held her face, touching it slowly. "The reiki didn't even spike that time."

"Aiko." I tried calmly, hoping to get through to her over the commotion.

Her lips only trembled as she began touching her hair. She pulled some strands over her shoulder to look at them with fearful scrutiny.

"We don't have time for a fucking amnesia plot, Aiko!" Yusuke snapped, genuinely worried.

"Kuwabara." Botan stood up and brushed herself off. "You better explain what this entire ruckus is!"

"She—" Kuwabara was cut short by Aiko's tone, one I'd never heard from her. It was small, fragile.

"I'm alive…" Her voice broke as her hands snaked up to her hair, and she raked her fingers through the brown strands. "I'm really alive?"

The child's words rang again in my head and I slowly stepped to the couch, bending slightly at the waist to put myself at eye level with her. I didn't suspect the kid would have gotten so far, now the reiki spike made sense…

"Why wouldn't you be?" The muscles in my throat tightened slightly, keeping my tone soft.

She looked up at me with red scleras, then to Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan.

"I—I… I died…" Her eyes hit the couch as she forced out the words. "My soul—it left my body!"

I looked to Botan, whose eyes were wide with shock and confusion. She quickly made her way to the couch, sitting in front of Aiko on the cushion. I knew as she looked at the brunette that she was mulling over Aiko's files in her mind—that she no doubt peaked at once before.

"What did it feel like?" Botan asked quietly, voice trying to sooth the girl's crying. "When your soul left your body."

"Like I was on fire," she hiccupped, shaking her head before curling into herself, pulling her knees to her chest. Her hands glowed blue briefly but she didn't seem to notice. "I drowned. I drowned in that fucking kid's water monster—I couldn't hold my breath long enough."

I looked to Botan. "She couldn't have died if she's still here. Once the soul leaves a body—"

Kuwabara mumbled from the floor. "I had to give her some of my reiki to make her soul go back inside."

Botan shook her head, hand gingerly placing itself over her mouth. No wonder she couldn't control the reiki…

"She couldn't have died—she's right here!" Yusuke snapped. "She didn't have to go through any trials I did!"

Botan looked to Yusuke. "That's because your soul was completely knocked out of your body—your body fully rejected your soul upon death because your death was instantaneous. I mean the fiery feeling isn't common, but it's still... something that _can_ happen in slow deaths..."

When the body's still fighting to live.

"It hurt so much," she cried. "There was no suction to keep my soul in my body, I was scared if I moved my legs—my soul legs from my real legs—I wouldn't have been able to go back in."

I let my gaze linger on Botan, who was assessing Aiko's story.

"Kuwabara, you gave her reiki?" she asked, to which he nodded. "Well…"

"What's so hard about it?" Yusuke asked, and though he sounded insensitive, he was only as confused as the rest of us. "Either she died or she didn't!"

Aiko cradled her face in her hands, and with the glow came sparks. She pulled away from her face and seethed in pain as Botan spoke.

"For your soul to leave your body you have to either do it voluntarily or your body has lost the reiki threshold it needs to keep the soul inside. Meaning… your soul can't stay... so…"

Aiko stood up, slowly, making sure she was balanced, and I moved out of her way. She quickly maneuvered past us to find the restroom.

"So… did she really die?" Yusuke asked, watching her walk down the hallway.

"Sounds like a near-death experience," Genkai interjected dismissively.

She didn't mean to sound rude, but she knew we had more immediately pressing matters to tend to. I couldn't help but keep my gaze at the hallway, waiting for her to return.

"Your body only rejects your soul when you're dying…" Botan mumbled, eyes lying on the cushion she sat on. "And if there's no suction to keep the soul inside…"

"Well, her health has always been pretty shitty, right?" Yusuke reasoned. "So maybe it was just like 'fuck it!' and tried shoving her out early?"

"I'm going to have to agree with Genkai's point, Botan," I said. "If she died, she wouldn't be able to return to her body without the help of Reikai."

Yusuke didn't respond, and Kuwabara, with his jaw still clenched, looked away from us. When we heard a door click down the hallway, Yusuke headed after her, disappearing around the corner.

After a few moments of silence and thought, Botan spoke.

"Maybe you're right!" She gave a sad smile. "Maybe it was a near-death experience. I mean… her files never alluded to a death so soon or like this…"

We all knew Reikai's files held no real credibility at this point.

"She said her legs were still attached," I reasoned, to which Botan nodded her head slowly. "Her body was still holding on."

She said nothing more, worry plain on her face. We stood in silence for a moment, everyone mulling over the possibilities by themselves, knowing the point was moot… but it was still unnerving.

"I couldn't hear her heartbeat over mine in my ears. It was like it wasn't even there," Kuwabara grumbled, crossing his legs. "I didn't know what to do, so I just zapped some reiki in her, thinking she may still have had a heart beat."

My jaw unclenched at his words as I remembered the day we spent in Maze Castle—when Kuwabara gave reiki to a lethargic Yusuke.

"Kuwabara." My voice was low from awe and gratitude as I looked down to him. He glanced up to me. "Your timing is impeccable."

"Timing?" He stood up. "What do you mean?"

He made it in time to force enough reiki into her body, letting her soul return just before it was _forced_ out.

Before I could reply, I heard her soft footsteps behind me. I turned to find her rounding the corner of the hallway with her face and hair damp, and Yusuke waiting at the corner.

She made her way to Kuwabara and stopped in front of him. She bowed deeply at the waist in gratitude and he quickly became flustered at the gesture.

"No, really!" He waved his hands around, panicked. "I would have done it for anyone, come on! You don't have to be so formal…"

"No, I truly mean it," she said, voice tired as she straightened. "Thank you, Kazuma."

We watched her hands patiently, waiting for sparks to fly or reiki to flourish, but nothing appeared.

"So… has anything else happened?" she asked slowly.

Yusuke looked at me before nodding to the table, where we gathered and waited for Koenma.

It took us only minutes to explain what happened over the course of the past few hours. Yusuke left halfway through and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me to finish explaining what we learned before she woke up.

When I finished, it took her a moment to respond as if she wasn't fully there throughout the explanation.

"Didn't I say they could open it faster if they wanted?" she mumbled, looking down at the empty table.

I didn't want to bring up the possibility that at some point the tunnel could just begin opening itself with how long they've been working on it, because the possibility she brought up was still a valid point. I instead nodded, letting her have the peace of thought.

"At least we know where they are, so we can go down today and stop them," Kuwabara said, to which Aiko gasped loudly, sitting upright.

Reiki glowed around her hands.

"Today… What time is it?" Scared eyes darted between us, and I replied.

"About three o' clock."

The ki died and her face fell. Her hands found their way to her forehead and she leaned her elbows on the table. "Oh my god… I missed class. My dad is going to _kill_ me…"

"I don't know if I can time it right again," Kuwabara mumbled to himself as her voice began crumbling with each syllable.

"I'm dead. I might as well have been left in the street. Oh my god…"

"You'll be fine," I reassured her. "I'm sure you can create a story that Kuwabara can back up."

"Yeah, dad," she scoffed, shaking her head. With each word her voice became quieter until I could barely hear the last syllable. "Hey, I got attacked by some water monster last night and died for maybe two minutes. Sorry, won't happen again."

"Here," Yusuke said, setting a bowl of cereal in front of her, and one for Kuwabara. "And I'm not interested in hearing about how you're not hungry."

We weren't surprised when she didn't respond and Kuwabara began shoveling food in his mouth.

"And I'm not taking the silent treatment either," he said, planting his hands on the table and bending down to look at her face. With a dejected sigh, he knew he couldn't win; he stood up again and slid the bowl to Kuwabara. "Whatever."

The doorbell rang, and we all thought it was strange how he arrived so quickly, but the soft footsteps and feminine voice that came with it only signaled Shizuru.

As Yusuke disappeared in the kitchen again, Shizuru stepped into the living room. She wasn't surprised to see everyone here. She made her way to Kuwabara first, who looked up to her, chewing. He grunted and nodded to her, and she eyed the bandages over his face.

"How're you feeling, Kazu?"

He swallowed the food and gave her a wide grin. "I got my reiki back and everyone's alive so… I'd say 'good'!"

She cupped his chin in her hand and turned his head around slightly, eyeing the injuries on his face. "Someone did you in _good."_

He gave her a thumbs-up. "You should see the other guy!"

"He here?"

Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah, he's in Urameshi's room."

Shizuru then looked over to Aiko, who hadn't even looked up at the guest. Shizuru eyed the girl before her brows furrowed.

She frowned. "How're you holding up, Aiko?"

The girl didn't respond and continued looking down at the table.

"Shame," Shizuru sighed before turning on her heels and heading down the hall. "She was really convincing herself last night was going to be a good one, too."

Botan squeaked when she saw Shizuru heading to Yusuke's room and quickly headed after the older Kuwabara. The younger continued eating and Aiko continued to fall deeper into her head as the smell of meats and spices wafted from the kitchen into the living room.

Kuwabara continued filling himself up on the cereal and still had room for more as Yusuke brought out large bowls of yakisoba. Both Kuwabara and Aiko received one, and even though the girl didn't respond to the bowl being set in front of her, Yusuke didn't pass it off to Kuwabara. *****

A familiar male's voice came from the hallway. "If only you were as proficient in your job as you are in the kitchen, Yusuke."

Our gazes turned to see Koenma in his professional form walking into the living room. Yusuke didn't seem to care how he was let in.

"You turn into your adult form and suddenly think you're slick," Yusuke snorted, taking his seat on the other side of Aiko. "Let's try it without the pacifier this time."

Koenma ignored the boy as he seated himself at the far end of the table.

Yusuke wanted Koenma to start talking, Kuwabara was interested… but more interested in regaining his strength, Genkai didn't seem to care where we should start, and Koenma almost seemed ashamed to open his mouth.

With the way the Prince's face stayed indifferent, stiff, I knew I had to begin the conversation. "I can't believe the enemy was on our side at one time."

Yusuke sucked his teeth at the thought.

"So what made him change?" I asked. "Why does he seek to kill the ones he defended for so long?"

His features softened slightly, thankful I gave him something to work with and ease into.

"Even though he had a great sense of justice," the Prince replied. "He had a very… black-and-white view of the world."

I watched his eyes drift to Aiko, who was still inside herself.

"Are you sure you're comfortable with her hearing this?" Koenma asked, eyes darting between Yusuke and I.

Yusuke grinned as I found myself looking down at her.

"Aiko?" I tried getting her attention.

"Aiko?" Yusuke called, waving his hand in front of her face. No response. "She's not even listening."

With a small, unconvinced sigh, Koenma continued. "Sensui was really sensitive to spirits. He'd spent his childhood defending himself from stray, evil spirits and youkai that could come through. They became the enemy early on."

His eyes stayed on her, not wanting a regular human to hear about Reikai's darker mistakes.

"She'd get it out of me if she really cared anyway, Koenma." Yusuke shrugged. "Come on, chop-chop."

"There's a reason he changed…" His gaze changed from Aiko, slowly, to Yusuke. "It was one of my orders and we can even say that was the last mission he did for me. He was ordered to close another tunnel that had opened."

Yusuke perked up, as did Kuwabara, who set his chopsticks in the empty bowl.

"The same as us…" Kuwabara mumbled.

"The tunnel wasn't too big at the time, only about ten meters, which only let feeble youkai through. The culprits were those hired by the Black Black Club, who at the time were raking in profits through youkai trafficking." He folded his arms across his chest. "The specialist at finding those youkai, at the time, was Sakyo."

All of us stiffened at the name, except Genkai, who snorted a short, dry laugh.

As he continued, he dredged up a part of his past he was ashamed of.

* * *

**Aiko.**

_"You wouldn't mind it happening, you know? And then it happens and you see everything around you and then suddenly, you kind of mind."_

I was stuck on those words. They bounced around in my head, drifting in the darkness.

I joked a lot about killing myself. I made light of suicide like it was a fashion trend about to end because I never really had the guts to do it, no matter how much I actually wanted to.

My personal self-harm, stemming from multiple past issues to the point where I couldn't even pinpoint why anymore, was not eating.

Words from an unfamiliar voice fuzzed in and out. briefly interrupting my thoughts. _"Capturing youkai to sell them as, what most statistics revealed, bodyguards." _They didn't really hold meaning or context, but I could hear them through the thick fog.

But my head prevailed and I was drawn back in again because… finally reaching what I thought I wanted for just a moment last night, even short-lived, was unsettling… to put it _lightly._

In the beginning, for whatever reason, you knew you deserved it. You deserved that hunger, you deserved to turn down meals, to run that extra mile or do that extra rep. You deserved that extra bit of punishment, whatever it was.

It was a lie, really, because nobody deserves to hate themselves, but you believed the lie. It wasn't a lie to you—even when some days you came upon the realization it was, it still just... _wasn't_ a lie.

And in the beginning, it was a victory. Every pound dropped, every inch off, was a score for you.

For a long time, to you, it was a victory.

_"He created the trafficking. Once I got wind a large transaction would be enacted in the mountains, I sent Sensui and his comrade Itsuki on the job. Sakyo wasn't using Toguro as a bodyguard… It's one of the reasons the mission was successful." _The name was familiar, it thinned the fog some. I heard it before, but I couldn't bring myself out of the haze.

Victories are wanted, desired, cherished, and validating. Every victory was that for a long time until you realized the reality of your life.

Even then it was a victory… and yet you still lost.

_"He saw something on the mission… something his black and white mind had trouble processing. A compilation of all the evil sides of human beings."_

I almost wish I didn't have to be on death's doorstep to really let it sink in.

I was tired of lying to myself, selling myself short… I refused to lose.

_"It was… A torture chamber of sorts. One used for… pleasure."_

Torture. Pleasure.

The words sunk in and the context next, and with a heavy trickle of disgust traveling down my spine, the fog cleared. I could see the bowl of cold yakisoba I'd been staring at. The words woke me up cold, slapped me out of the conscious black-out.

I looked for the source of the voice around the table, the only person in the room I'd never met before. He sat next to Yu, at the end of the table, adorning what very well could have been sixth century Italian renaissance clothing. An English writing of the suffix "Jr." was tattooed on his forehead, and he let a pacifier lie in his mouth without shame.

"A _torture_ chamber used for _pleasure_?" Kazuma repeated, confused.

Through gritted teeth, I found my voice. "Sadism."

I could feel multiple pairs of eyes on me, surprised I'd come out of that little trance. What was once an empty sort of feeling inside me was now replaced with disgust and anger.

"They got a hard-on from—" Kurama's hand hovered in front of my mouth, and I stopped talking.

I watched the stranger stare me down, and I returned the gaze without shame as I tried to figure who he was. The pacifier, the elegant silk scarf, the royal blue embroidery on the cuffs of his periwinkle blouse…

Yu said the Prince was a _toddler, _not a grown, infantalized freak. But right now he was all I could expect—no. Maybe all of Reikai's higher-ups dressed this nice.

His eyes drifted to my hands that glowed a lustrous blue. "Do you think she should—"

"I'm fine," I replied simply, focusing on the energy in my hands like I had in the bathroom.

I tamed it quickly, remembering how to channel my reiki like I had with the ring. If I didn't stay conscious of it, it would spark again, but I wasn't too scared since I knew I could get the hang of it soon.

His gaze lingered on me still as the reiki died down. I could feel just how uncomfortable he was with me at the table.

"That…" Kazuma's voice came next, bringing them back to the subject. "That sounds like when we went to Tarukane's mansion."

The man nodded and looked to Kazuma, and then to Yusuke. "There's a fundamental difference between the two of you. Sensui killed everyone in the room. He developed a sort of passion for the tape he took with him and resented humans. He looked for evil in everyone."

"Ugh, I have a problem with guys like that," Yu groaned. "They go from one extreme to another."

"That's why this time I chose a detective who was a little less responsible."

"That makes total sense," Kurama feigned a gasp, which brought a grumble from Yu and a small smile from the red-head.

"Can it, Kurama."

I reeled over the words I'd caught, tried putting them into context and expanding on it from what Kurama briefed me on earlier, and all I could do was become angrier and angrier.

"One last thing," the man said. "Once he begins something, he finishes it."

"I have a question." I turned to the brunet official, who stared blankly at me. Yu repressed a wide grin, tongue in cheek.

The man nodded his head gently. "I'm assuming you're Miss Hojo, Aiko."

Fuck his nod. "Why wasn't this _Sakyo_ arrested?"

Yu snickered since he saw the question coming. The stranger tried speaking, but my spite wouldn't die.

"If he was, why was he… why did he only get so little a sentence for that? A fucking murderer, a _trafficker_—"

"Aiko—" Kurama was cut off by the man.

"Sakyo was the alleged ringleader, but we had no witnesses to attest he was present at the transaction and Sensui had disappeared. In the end, we had no proof. The entire case was a bust."

"But you could send the fucking SDF after _him_, can't you?" I jabbed my thumb at the red-head next to me. "Can't do a damn thing to _really_ get border patrol off his ass but you let that fucking scum walk free."

"I do not have control of the SDF or _border patrol_."

My voice rose. "You Reikai idiots focus on people like Kurama but can't go after a fucking trafficker?! Someone who wants to open a _portal?!"_

"Aiko, it's not the Prince's fault," Kurama said calmly, and I paused and stared at the man and his royal attire.

The Prince coughed into his fist, and I began stammering.

"I'm—I—" I didn't want to apologize.

So fucking what he was the Prince of Reikai? Why couldn't he do his job and get people for the right reasons? How could they expect me to apologize about something so infuriating?

I continued to fumble out an attempt, but it clearly wasn't going to happen. Kurama stepped to the plate.

"She's trying to say 'I'm sorry'."

I looked down to my hands that rested on the table, finding a darker blue glow and wild, lighter sparks wafting around my hands in a fluid motion. Like a fuse about to blow, the glow grew darker and the sparks begged to be let free. I had to tame it again before I let my reiki go; I couldn't risk passing out right now.

"It's alright." The Prince was blasé as I concentrated on pulling the reiki back inside.

Kurama and Yu immediately turned around in their chairs, looking out the window. I followed suit when the ki died, curious. I looked at the building across from Yu's, but I couldn't see anything…

"What?" Kazuma asked, not moving from his spot.

"Sensui," Yu replied with a grumble.

Kurama and Yu instantly stood from their seats and ran to the balcony's glass door and Kazuma, with his sixth sense returned, had to have felt something amiss. He jumped out of his chair and sprinted to the hallway.

"Mitarai's in danger!"

Who was Mitarai…? The fucking kid who drowned me?

"Let his ass die!" I screamed after Kazuma.

Heavy footsteps carried down the hallway, and just seconds later glass shattered in the other room. Feeling returned in my legs when I heard the crash and I could feel the same fear from last night returning. It was fight or flight and I'd better take flight again.

But where? Outside, where the enemy was?

"That bastard's grumbling about something," Yu growled.

"Apparently, he's been giving Mitarai free reign," Kurama replied. "He wanted to get us together."

I stood up, finding my way next to the Prince and situating myself near the comforting, thick cement walls.

"You can hear him?" Yu asked.

"Something like that," he replied. Just seconds later, Kurama picked up on something again. "A person with the ability they're looking for?"

"What's he talking about?" Yu then turned to me. "You were there last night—do you remember anything?"

I shook my head, trying to remember back. "I… All I know is that kid was hell-bent on Kazuma—he knew who Kazuma and I were. He was there at the nature conservation area."

"Toss-up between Aiko and Kuwabara," Yu said, looking at Kurama.

"Kuwabara." Kurama nodded. "Unless there's something special you've recently gained besides a new bout of reiki you can't control."

I shook my head. "No, no. He's definitely after Kazu—"

Kazuma came out of Yu's room, sliding on a pair of pants, and ran for the front door.

"Wait, Kuwabara!" Yu screamed, running after him. "You need to rest, you idiot. You're injured!"

I was the only one out of the loop because in just seconds, Genkai was sucking her teeth in irritation and the Prince was biting down on that godforsaken pacifier. The pair began walking out of the living room, headed after Yu and Kazuma, and Kurama, now with a grim expression, began walking to join the group outside.

I grabbed his uniform jacket, gripping the cerise polyester sleeve tightly.

"Well?" I snapped. "I have no way to tell what's going on and all anyone's doing is running off or sucking their teeth. What's happening?"

He paused before turning back to me. He guided me to the wall, pulling me away from the glass, and I rested my back against the safe concrete.

"You need to get our families to safety now," he said quietly. "Prolong the demise."

Shocked, my grip on his sleeve loosened. My stomach churned—I didn't want to call. Fear gripped hold of my throat, and I had to force out my reply as the glow and sparks returned, traveling up his sleeve. He didn't seem fazed by the ki's touch.

"But… I thought we had time before—"

"Yesterday we found we only had a week left," he replied.

"Then it's fine—we have plenty of time!"

"We had two weeks just days before," he said. "With the rate the tunnel's expanding, it could open—"

I choked on the word, cutting him off. "Tonight…"

My eyes fell to the ground. I didn't… have time to truly prepare… I could make something up but… I really, really, _really_ didn't want to face my dad. Not after missing class…

"Aiko." His voice pulled my eyes from the ground to his. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I thought you couldn't."

"It's not that," I laughed hoarsely and then cleared my throat. "I can do it… I can do it. I _will_ do it." My fingers loosened from his sleeve and wrapped around his forearm. I tried to tame the reiki and pull it back inside me. "Because this is like the big showdown, right? I _have_ to do it."

He nodded, and a new fear crept into my nerves as I found my hand grabbing for his. I could feel the hardness of his bones as my thumb rubbed the top of his hand nervously. I concentrated best I could, keeping my ki calm.

His voice was calm and had no intonation to soothe my worry. "Everything will be fine but for precaution, I'm counting on you."

With a deep breath, I nodded curtly. "When this is over, bring everyone back alive. I want everyone alive… I want you back alive."

His hand moved from mine and hovered over the nook of my neck, and despite still being overloaded from last night, I knew this could be the last time I'd see him.

I nodded quickly, and his hand rested gently on my neck, thumb pressed gently under my chin. I could feel the slight pulse from his thumb, and he could feel the fast beating of my heart from my jugular. I knew if I wasn't so scared of the phone call I had to make I would have appreciated the way his thumb gently, briefly, rubbed the beating skin.

Voice still calm to combat my racing heart, he spoke as he pulled away. "The same goes for you."

I watched him leave the living room, and I stared down the now empty hallway that led to the front door. Closing my eyes tight, I pushed away my fear—pushed away the frantic thoughts, the heat in my face.

Think, Aiko, think. How can you get them out of here? Tell them the truth? What proof did you have to make them believe you? Frustrated, thoughts driven by anxiety and derailing any possible plan, I took a deep breath and slapped my palms against my cheeks. _Think_!

Pain came quickly, sparking around my cheek bone, and I seethed and pulled my hands away from my face. As the stinging lingered, I knew what I had to do. I instantly searched the apartment for a phone, finding the white savior on the kitchen counter.

I knew how to get my family to leave, and I knew if I kept this plan rolling I'd conjure a way to get Shiori and the Hatanaka's out too.

My fingers hovered over the buttons, shaking violently in fear of talking to my dad. I quickly dialed my home number and let my emotions take over. They were real, and I was truly scared of hearing a voice on the other line. I knew if I wanted this to work, I had to really put on a show.

They were going to kill me for this…

When nobody picked up, there was a small speck of relief that flourished in the pit of my stomach, but I immediately redialed. Again, after a few rings, it went to voice-mail.

Okay. Okay. Just… just use this on Shiori and Hatanaka. Try my family again after, call dad at work…

Thankfully, praising the gods for the convenience, the Minamino household didn't have caller ID.

I waited patiently as the line rang, jitters still shaking me.

After the third ring, Shiori picked up. "Minamino residence."

"Shiori!" I choked out her name; thankful real fear was still pumping through my body. At least everything would sound genuine.

I could feel the heat of my reiki on the phone and I quickly beckoned the glow to return inside.

She sighed and pulled away from the phone. "Mr. Hojo! She's on the phone! She's called!"

My blood ran cold, the chill hit my face first and then trickled down to my shoulders. He was out looking for me. He left work to look for me. He was going to kill me.

Reiki surged out of my hand, zapping me in the face. I cursed and pulled away from the phone but—despite my better judgment—pulled it back when I heard Shiori's voice.

"Aiko, dear, what happened?! Why didn't you go home last night? Where are you?"

"Something _really_ bad happened last night." My voice trembled, and I found myself leaning against the counter to help me stand.

I tried concentrating on my ki, pulling it back inside so I didn't burn my face off.

My dad was the one who responded; fear lodged in my throat the way it did last night. "Better tell me what the hell it was and hope it was worse than what you're going to get when you come home."

"Something…" I hiccupped, feeling the familiar sting in the bridge of my nose. "Really, really, _really_ bad happened, dad." My hand found its way to my forehead as warm water spilled down my cheeks. "We got jumped—these thugs came out of nowhere and—"

"Why? Did you fucking open your mouth again?!"

"No! No, they picked a fight with _us_. They just came out of nowhere!"

"And?"

"I… We…" Shitshitshitshit… "We were shoved in a van…"

He paused, shocked, debating whether I was that desperate to lie. I was, but it was a half-truth… I mean, something _really_ bad _really_ did happen last night…

"…Where are you?" he growled.

"We made it out… we made it out and…"

"Where. Are. You?"

"I found an airport," I paused, remembering the name. "Misawa Airport."

"Wha—" His voice broke, cutting off abruptly, stopping him from screaming into the phone at me. After a few seconds, he spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm on my way."

"There's a lot of us, though…"

"Have they called their fucking parents to come pick them up?"

"They're not picking up their phones…"

I could hear Shiori's muffled voice on the other end, and then she came on the phone. "How many are there, dear?"

"Uh… there's five of us total."

"Alright, I'll drive. Kazuya can stay here and watch Minoru and Shuuichi."

It was then I knew if I didn't divulge something, open myself even briefly, this wouldn't work. My voice continued to tremble. I couldn't bring myself to speak.

All I could muster was her name in broken a pitch, both from fear and feeling the heat from my hand again. "Shiori?"

"Yes?"

I tried calming myself and pulling my ki back inside before I stung myself again. "Please… can you please… Please bring everyone."

She paused, surely confused. "Is there a reason?"

"The more people there are, like the more kids… the less likely he'll…"

I couldn't do it. I couldn't say it. She could hear my trembling, hitched breathing. It was probably the only reason she agreed.

"Alright, dear. We'll all be there soon. Do you want to file a police report when we get there?"

My heart spiked at the thought and I quickly maintained the heat from my hand. The glow didn't even think about surfacing.

I shook my head. "No! It'll only escalate the situation. Besides… we don't know what they looked like."

She sighed. "We'll be there soon, dear."

"Can I talk to my dad?"

When she replied yes, she passed the phone off to my dad, who was far from happy to speak to me. "What?"

I had to be careful with my diction. I hesitated, so long that he was becoming impatient.

With a deep breath, calming myself, I told all I could. "When you get there… trust your gut."

He paused, and I could imagine the confused look on his face. "The fuck does that—"

I hung up, slamming the phone into its holster. With one deep exhale, and another inhale to match, I quickly thought of how to get to Misawa. Picking up the phone, I dialed the first number that came to mind.

Jitters gone, fear and fate accepted, it was easy to keep my ki under control. When the ringing stopped, I didn't bother waiting for a response. I dove straight in.

"I need to get to Misawa Airport."

But the voice that replied was not whose I wanted.

"When the fuck did you and Hitomi become ass buddies, Aiko?" Natsume.

I did _not_ want to talk to Natsume.

Soft footsteps, then Shizuru's fleeting figure passed by the kitchen. I pulled away from the phone, watching her run down the hallway.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" I called after her.

"He's my brother! Take cover, Aiko!" she called back, not even bothering to stop.

"Sounds like some excitement!" Even with the phone about a foot from my ear, I could still hear Natsume's signature cackle.

If I was going to get to Misawa, I had to go through Natsume.

Fuck it.

"I know everything about the tunnel and its creator," I said, putting the receiver back to my mouth. "Come pick me up. Take me to Misawa Airport. I'll tell you everything I know."

She paused, hesitant, and then giggled like a school girl. "Just in time. Meet me at the salon. I'll pick you up."

I hung up and instantly and booked it for the exit. I picked up my boots near the front door and began hopping on one foot to put them on and zip them up, and I was lucky to get as far as I had. A powerful blast of reiki surged behind me, exploding, and the heavy winds picked me up and flew me down the hall.

My body tumbled on the cement, rolling to the edge of the hall near the staircase, and I shielded my face from the flying debris. Despite the sharp pain in my shoulders and back, I cursed and pushed myself up slowly to keep balance before running back to the destroyed apartment.

"Botan!" I called, feeling my throat sting from last night. I only screamed louder into the heavy clouds. "_Botan_!"

No response. What should I do? If I go back in there, I could be in another blast like that… I had no way to tell if there was even anything left with all this smoke in the room—Shizuru.

Shizuru! Shizuru left. Maybe if I could find her, she could help. She had a knack for premonition.

I left the cloud of debris and began on my way again, running down the flight of stairs that were riddled with large chunks of cement from not only the apartment but the ledges in the hallway. I found Shizuru sitting against the stairwell on the third floor.

"Shizuru!" I steadied myself as I ran down the steps, almost tripping over a large piece of cement.

Her injuries from the surrounding damage were noticeable. At this point, I knew I would have to give up the ride. I couldn't leave them like this.

"Let's go," I said with a heavy breath as I knelt in front of her. She was bruised, cut, and bleeding. "We're getting you and Botan to a hospital."

I reached to lift her arm over my shoulder, but she shook her head before trying to lean away.

With a tired voice, she ordered. "Go, Aiko."

"I can't leave you like this—"

"I'll live," she asserted with a deep breath. "It's just some flesh wounds."

"Just some _flesh wounds_!" I repeated in disbelief. "Look, it'll be fine. I can lose my ride. I already got everyone driving."

"Aiko, I know what you're supposed to do. I heard everything," she said with more force. "The reason he has you getting your families out is because he wants you away and safe too."

"But—"

"You have an obligation, Aiko. Fulfill it."

"Then you're coming with me. You and Botan are coming—"

"Aiko, my place is with my family, just like yours is. And my family is here."

"But Botan—"

"I'm sure Botan's fine," she sighed. "She knows how to avoid death like no other."

I didn't want to leave her. I didn't want to leave—what if she died? What if she died after I left? I could have helped—it would've been on me. I couldn't leave her.

She lifted her hand and set it on my shoulder, using just enough strength to squeeze it tight.

"I'll live. I know I will," she reassured me as my throat tightened. "I'm just hurt. I'll be fine. Go fulfill your end of the bargain."

I suppressed even more tears at this point: anger, stress, disbelief—a plethora of emotions. I wanted to cry and scream, but now wasn't the time.

Unfortunately, my voice couldn't hide my emotions… and neither could my hands since they began glowing again. "But Botan—"

She gave me a thin smirk as she watched the ki die. "I'll check on Botan, just let me rest…"

"_Rest_ as in _die_…"

She gripped tighter, proving she would survive, and let her smirk fall to a frown. "_Go_."

I stood up and ran, pushing myself despite wanting to stop and rest. I had no time to waste and the physical pain was easier to focus on than the guilt. I was out of breath by the time I arrived to the salon, finding a black limousine parked in front of the building.

I ran to the back door and opened it, and Natsume and her henchwomen were scattered about the back seats that faced each other. Natsume and Hayashi's backs faced the oncoming road, and Fukui sat behind the passenger seat, facing them.

"I figured since we have such a long drive ahead of us, I'd pick out my new toy," Natsume cooed, eyes closed as she massaged the towel over her damp hair. "A newly renovated nineteen seventy-three Mercedes-Benz six hundred Pullman Landaulet."

Unless she was going to buy me one—"I could _not_ care less."

I sat myself in the seat nearest the door I entered, and slammed it behind me.

"Oh my gosh, Aiko." Hayashi was the first to speak. "What happened to your face?"

Fukui didn't say anything and merely stared at the cut bottom lip and bruise that traveled along the apple of my cheek and around my eye.

"Holy shit." Natsume's brows rose in surprise at the unsightly bruise. "The f—"

"We need to get to Misawa Airport, _now_," I interrupted, and Natsume paused before shrugging.

"Lock the doors, Sosuke," Natsume called through the open partition, and he pressed the auto lock.

A shuffle of clicks sounded around us as he pulled into traffic.

"I'm going to need you to tell me everything you know," she said simply, returning to drying her hair. "But the drive to Mushiyori is pretty long so I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to catch up before we get to business."

I paused, letting the words sink in.

"What? No. I said _Misawa_. Misawa Airport!"

Massaging the towel around her head still, she cocked her head back and spoke with blithe nonchalance. "Why the hell would I go to Misawa when the tunnel is opening in Mushiyori?"

"Why the hell would you go to _Mushiyori_?!"

Her arms paused and she looked down at me, cracking some shit-eating grin. I was lucky enough to hide my new bout of ki from surfacing despite the anger bubbling around in my stomach and blood pulsing in my ears. I wanted nothing more than to punch her teeth into her throat, but my seething rage only pushed my gaze on Fukui, who stared blankly at me.

She was right.

* * *

**A/N:**

***** _Yakisoba_ is stir-fried ramen style noodles with meats, vegetables, etc.

Thanks to _LadyEllesmere_, _OhhTaylorJade_, _hollyandthediamonds, YuYuHakushoObsesser,_ and a guest for reviewing last chapter, and then everyone who's followed and faved. Muah.

I've wanted to get to these chapters for _so_ long. I know it's been a long ride but trust me, if I didn't put Aiko through everything I have already, she wouldn't survive what she's about to get into. ;)


	8. Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But

**Noboru.**

I watched the price rack up on the counter, increasing at a far faster rate than the gallons. There was a reason not a damn person in Japan drove long distances: these fucking gas prices. Tongue in cheek, I suppressed the urge to drive ahead and get to the airport so I could smack her into next week.

Fucking knew I shouldn't have let her go to that damn concert.

Something was suspicious. After all these years she finally wants to jump in a crowd of grown men and _rock out_? Yeah, right. She was up to something and I let her in it. I should have known better.

"If we get on the expressway we'll get there in a couple of hours," Hatanaka said, coming up next to me. "The traffic should be fine for most the ride on the expressway and it's like a straight shot to Aomori Prefecture."

I nodded, watching the price continue to rise as I thought about the toll for the expressway to Misawa. "How much did it cost to fill your tank?"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" he laughed, waving off the implication.

"Hatanaka, I'm serious. How much did it cost?"

He paused and his laughter died out. He gave me a small, apologetic smile. "We can talk about it after we get everyone home and safe, Hojo."

There was no point in arguing with him so I knew I had to bring it up again later.

"Let us know when you're ready to pull out," he said, turning back towards his car.

Kaede's small hand found its way to my forearm and she gripped it tightly, shaking it desperately for my attention. I turned to her, expecting to see her facing me, ready to sign, but her other hand pointed to the sky.

In the far distance, far past our home, stood a giant pillar of what I could only assume to be dark light with the way it had a faint glow around the edges. It was thin, just a bit bigger than the lines on a paper, and surrounded by a pool of dark, looming clouds in the sky. But to be able to see the line from this distance, when it was actually far away…

I looked around the gas station but nobody seemed to notice it. I would've heard about something like that being built.

"Hatanaka," I called to him, not bothering to look over my shoulder. "Do you know what the weather's supposed to be like?"

He came up next to me, stopping behind the pump.

"Here or Misawa?" he asked, looking out at the sky.

I stared the line down, watching the clouds slightly sway around its base. The eye of a storm almost, as if they were the pillar's support. "Here."

"Well, oh…" he paused, cupping his chin. "There are some black clouds in the distance, huh? The news didn't say anything about rain. Looks like a storm's coming."

The pump clicked hard, forcing my grip off the handle.

"Think I left some windows open." I shrugged, taking the nozzle out.

Hatanaka gave a hearty chuckle. "I'm sure it'll pass right by us and hit another town. It's so sunny here, don't worry."

I forced a laugh as I put the nozzle back in its holster. "Yeah, hope so."

Hatanaka returned to the car with his fiancé, and I eyed the pillar for a moment more before signing to Kaede.

"_He can't see it._"

She frowned. "_I don't think anyone can…_"

"_What do you think it is?"_

"_I don't know,_" she paused, looking at the strange pillar of dark light. _"Something… wrong. That shouldn't be there."_

_"Let's not worry about it right now…"_

I patted her shoulder and gave it a squeeze before gesturing for her to get back in the car. It wasn't until I put the keys in the ignition and decided to look in the backseat that I found Minoru watching the clouds out the rear window.

He wrapped his arms around the head rest of his seat, looking on with interest.

I remembered the evening he was in the hospital. My eyes had been glued to his blankets but from the corner of my eye, before he finally woke up, I could have sworn I saw something glowing over him. At the time, I figured it was the salt water clouding my vision, blurring my sight.

I never told Kaede about it. I didn't think much of it until now.

"Minoru, what are you looking at?" I asked, watching him from the rear view mirror.

"Hm?" He glanced over his shoulder to me briefly and then turned back to the window. "Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing."

He looked back at me in surprise with wide brown eyes. "Do you see it too, then? That big, dark pillar of light?"

I hid the confused frown I wanted to make. "Yeah, do you know what that is?"

Kaede was watching me now, eyes darting back and forth between my lips and the mirror to see her son.

He shook his head. "No."

"Are you lying?"

"No," he said, voice pitched with innocence.

He didn't know. I knew he didn't. At this point I just wanted to remind him how it was wrong to lie to me. I didn't need another Aiko.

"Well, you lied just a minute ago."

He turned back to see the pillar, looking at the dark clouds surrounding it as I turned the keys.

The car started with a rumble as he replied. "Well, Sis always tries to hide weird stuff from me so I thought she'd want to hide it from you too."

I gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath to control my anger. The cassette tape picked up where it left off, and the English accent blurred into the background of my train of thought while I stared at the back of my son's head.

_When you get there… trust your gut._

* * *

**Aiko.**

It was dusk and we were in traffic—completely-to-a-stop-dead-no-movement-in-the-last-half-hour traffic. Sosuke actually turned the car off because there was no hope of moving. A small pile-up a couple of miles ahead accompanied with the overall traffic for Megallica's nearby concert was the news' diagnosis about twenty minutes ago before we decided to turn the car off and just wait for movement.

Natsume had yet to ask me about the information I promised her, had yet to even _talk_ to me. She was instead primping herself, doing her make-up and working what she could with her hair.

Her Nokia ten-eleven cellphone she let me use to call an ambulance and the fire department to Yu's place was now buried in the seat somewhere behind her as she curled her lashes.

There was a small, dull _thunk _from the window, grabbing all our attention. It was Hayashi who reacted first, turning to look out the window just as she finished brushing her hair. She squealed in disgust, backing away from the car door.

Outside the window was a large Makai insect: a grotesque, purple and green mutant fly from Mushiyori. It seemed to be alone, but that was still bad—more would soon spread out, more dangerous youkai would come. We had at least another hour to go and that wasn't including traffic.

"T-t-that's an insect youkai!" Hayashi snapped in disgust, taking me by surprise. "Sosuke! The windows are all closed, right?"

"Yes, Miss Ami," he replied calmly.

"Calm down, Ami. God," Natsume groaned. "It's just a fuckin' bug. I'll step on it if it comes in."

"I hate bugs, youkai or not—sometimes you can't even tell them apart. That's how _vile_ they are." Hayashi's nose scrunched in disgust and she turned to me as she spoke. "They are utterly disgusting."

"That's all that's crawling around Mushiyori," I said, hoping Hayashi would convince them to turn around.

I knew it wasn't going to happen, but damn it if I didn't try.

"We'll be fine," Natsume reassured Hayashi, who inhaled sharply and turned away from the window with her arms across her chest.

"I know. I'm just upset insects made their way through _again_. They're always the first."

Natsume sighed and returned to curling her lashes. "Since we're stuck in traffic and have plenty of time, let's catch up real quick."

Yeah, why the fuck not? You already blew my cover in Misawa.

"How's second year?" she asked, staring intently in her compact mirror.

"Same as first year, I guess." I shrugged. We really just started so I didn't have much to say. Other than the shit hole we were all put in, not much happened. "What about you guys?"

"College is amazing," she sighed dreamily, curling her other eye's lashes. "I swear you'll love it. So much more freedom than high school."

"What are you guys majoring in?" I turned to Hayashi first, who was staring out the other window watching with little interest the person in the car next to us.

When she felt my gaze on her, she perked up and smiled, disgust washed away clean. "Vocal performance and biology."

"Research or medical?"

"Medical," she replied. "I want to be a surgeon."

I grimaced, remembering the store incident. It wasn't that man's broken, bloody nose that made her uncomfortable.

I then turned to Fukui, who had stared at the floor with her head rested against the window for the last half hour.

"Business management and economics." Probably following in her father's footsteps.

I nodded and then turned to Natsume, who just finished with her lashes. She looked up to me with a small grin.

"I'm aiming to follow in my father's footsteps. I know I don't need a degree to be a broker, but I want all the opportunities that come with having a degree…" she paused and dug through her large purse that resembled a small duffle bag, pulling out a smaller make-up bag. "I'm double majoring in civil law and business management with a minor in psychology."

I nodded, only slightly surprised.

"My father just landed a deal with this _huge_ developer in New York City, which is why I'm handling this instead of him. We're headed there when this is finished." She smiled, excited and proud of herself as she pulled out a brown pencil and dropped the curler inside. "We'll attend the broker's open and hit the streets the morning after. The United States Economy _needs_ me, after all."

"He's selling a _building_?" I ignored her personal plans since I wasn't going.

"It's a brand new apartment complex and he's selling all the units." She nodded as she began outlining her brows.

I wasn't going to bother changing the subject. I didn't know much about the broking world and the topic kept me relatively sane in the idle car. "How much total?"

"Well, each unit on average is going for…" she paused, thinking. "About six point two."

"What?"

"Million," she replied. "In dollars."

I stared at her, shocked. I didn't know the equivalence rate between dollars to yen but that number…

"Hitomi, what's the exchange rate?" Natsume asked without looking at her.

Without missing a beat, still staring at the ground, the ebony haired girl replied. "About six hundred and forty million yen."

I had to collect my jaw from the floor. From just one apartment?!

"And his commission?" Natsume snickered, rubbing her finger under her eyebrows arch to wipe any stray line. "If there are fifteen units."

I was wondering why Natsume didn't bother doing the math but if Fukui was talented enough to spit out numbers like that, then why bother? Either she just already knew the numbers or she spent the last four months becoming a math whiz.

She was like a robot, monotonous and quick. "Excluding taxes, in yen, it's roughly two hundred and eighty-seven million yen." *****

I knew her family was fucking loaded but god…damn… He must have moved up in the industry even more, recently.

Natsume squealed in delight, kicking her feet and removing the pencil from her face to point it at me. "_That_ is why I want to go into real estate. My father is high-end and cut-throat and I'm going to become a fucking _shark_. Just. Like. Him."

I was almost willing to beg to be adopted. Then again, I could only hope to die now. I couldn't get in contact with my father yet. I'd have to wait until they arrived at Misawa and call to give them some half-assed lie, and at that point I could only hope the tunnel did open because if I didn't die by a youkai's hands it was going to be by his.

"I want to live in that cut-throat world," she sighed. "I want to get my broking license in the states too. Be in New York City—practically the best place for high-end real estate. To do that and take after my father here—" She pulled the pencil up to her brows again, continued filling them in, and repressed a smirk. "Anyway, that broker's open is where I'll start my connections, set my human related business in stone."

"Well, wait. If you're taking after your father's human business, is Isao taking after his Reikai business?" I asked.

She finished her brows and dropped the pencil in the make-up bag, setting it by her side. Her face was finished; all she needed to do now was her hair. But it could wait, it had to, because she straightened, sitting upright as she crossed one black-tights leg over the other.

"No, I want both. And I have two opportunities packed together in less than twenty-four hours to show my father I am capable of taking after him in both estates," she asserted as the engine started, pushing out a slow pop ballad from the radio. "He's given me permission to handle this case for him and I will prove I'm capable."

"Well, what about Isao? Does he just not care?"

Her features tensed and she gave a look of indifference before pursing her lips tight. When she finally opened her mouth to reply, her voice was heavy. "He doesn't, but I do. I want this."

The car dragged forward, and we began driving as my throat tightened.

She glanced out the window and muttered to herself, almost growling in determination. "I want this estate so bad." And she glanced back to me and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "With that said, the interrogation starts now."

I felt an eyebrow rise in curiosity. "So Mushiyori is your jurisdiction too?"

"No," she said with a sly grin. "But I'll have my request honored."

"You… didn't ask yet?" This fucking piece of shit pulled me out of Misawa on the off-chance she would be given coverage of this stupid issue.

She shook her head and sat upright, pinching her index and thumb together and dragging them to her sides to imitate some sort of zen relaxation. "I'm in no rush. I'm confident."

She was nervous.

"Start talking," she said simply, arms crossing over her chest.

"Tell me what you know already so I don't waste your time." Like you did mine.

"For unknown reasons, Reikai's former detective, Sensui, has made reappearance and decided to open a tunnel in the depths of Irima's Cave in Mushiyori," she stated. "What I want to know is why."

She practically had everything figured out, but I was able to answer her question.

I paused, gathering my thoughts, remembering what I heard at the table and what Kurama told me only a few hours before. "They said he had a video tape."

One filled-in eyebrow cocked up curiously. "Video tape?"

"'Black' something. Uh…" I paused, trying to remember the name as her brows furrowed together suspiciously. "Chapter Black."

She stiffened, and two new pairs of eyes landed on me. Hayashi and Fukui, who'd been more interested in the interior carpet floor, were now staring at me in disbelief in tune with Natsume.

"He used it to gain followers," I said, thinking back to the context of the conversation. "Because there are multiple people working with him. I think he used the tape to recruit them."

Natsume shuffled through her bag, pulling out a brush and a pair of sparkling, dangling diamond earrings.

"Get out of the way," she snapped, getting up from her seat. "Sit where I am. Lean against the doors, both of you."

Natsume and I switched seats as Hayashi asked Fukui if she'd mind. Fukui and I sat where they had once been, and I watched as Natsume feverishly brushed her hair. Anxious with a complimenting scowl on her face, she eyed the window next to her as she calculated what to do.

"He wants to open a portal because he stole that tape and saw what was on it?" she growled through pursed lips, the hooks of her earrings hanging between them.

I shrugged. "No... well, kind of? They said he saw something that made him snap, which was why he took the tape. A torture chamber."

She eyed me as she ripped the white hair tie off her wrist and began tying her hair up into a slick ponytail.

"Get against the doors, both of you," she snapped, eyes searching the floor as she shoved the earrings in.

Confused, still scarred from the last time I was pressed against a door by her, I obliged slowly. I figured she'd have to lunge at me to throw me out again so I'd have enough time to move.

"Roll up the partition, please," Natsume ordered, and the space that showed the front road and the back of Sosuke's head began disappearing as a black window rolled up. She stood up and moved away from her seat. "Initiate the call."

She leaned towards the partition and placed her hand on the tinted window. A soft blue glow emitted from her hand, reminiscent of the same energy I'd seen from myself at the dinner table just a while ago. Her reiki clung to the partition and spread across it, and Hayashi decided to let me in on a secret.

"Reikai is advanced in its technology," she said simply, primping her fringe with her nails. I now knew what Natsume meant by renovated. "The best in all three realms. Only one other place in all three realms could be considered our rival, and it's a King's territory in Makai."

Eventually, static hit the partition, covering the entire screen. …I really entered a sci-fi movie. First Botan's little mirror and now the _partition. _Maya would _flip_ if she ever saw this. Hayashi was entertained by my shocked, incredulous expression and continued to reassure me.

"The partition is like a two-way TV, Aiko," she giggled. "Akane merely pushed some reiki on it to make sure anyone who shouldn't see this can't."

I could see Fukui's lip twitch in my peripheral vision, and I watched her try to suppress an eye roll.

Satisfied with her faint reflection in the static screen, Hayashi dropped her hands in her lap. "If we were to wreck, break down, or run out of gas, and couldn't end the transmission, then we could still use it safely knowing the average person couldn't hear or see anything."

Voices sounded from the partition, and small, shadowed figures appeared on the screen one by one in their own little boxes. From my discolored angle, I couldn't make out faces or distinguishing features, but each voice was noticeably unique.

"Jurisdiction four." Older, gruff male voice.

"Eighteen." Younger, slightly nasal male.

"Twenty." Younger, calmer male.

"Jurisdiction two." Similar to that of twenty's, hard to tell apart until I noticed his lisp.

"Jurisdiction fi—Little Akane!" A female's voice, slightly pitched. "What are you…?"

Natsume and Hayashi sat straight as pins with their hands folded in theirs lap, reminiscent of a cliché boss in their office on the highest floor of their company's skyscraper.

"You all are the heads of your jurisdictions," Natsume said, voice firm and controlled. "I've called every head close enough to be immediately affected by what you all know as the tunnel of darkness that is opening."

"It's my jurisdiction and I've—" Jurisdiction four.

"I understand that, Mr. Matsumoto." She cut him off instantly. "I've called to make a request."

The man remained silent, and despite being unable to see the faces on the screen, I knew everyone was uncomfortable.

Natsume was noticeably nervous from my angle, where I could see her knuckles were turning white from pressure. But that anxiety disappeared instantly as she took one short breath, and she held her head high.

"As you all know, I have learned from my father even before I could speak. I have worked under his watchful eye and completed tasks successfully."

Matsumoto suppressed a groan. "Miss Akane, I understand where you're taking this but—"

"I'm requesting to be given coverage of this case."

The female voice sighed. "Akane…"

"From reliable outside sources, I've found information that changes the ballgame for us."

"We haven't even received notifications on who's handling the situation," the woman said, annoyed. "Special Defense Forces are on standby, so I'm wondering who was great enough to send out before them."

Natsume's eyes flickered to me, then back to the screen. "Reikai's current detective, Urameshi, Yusuke, has been given coverage of the case."

"I'll request the higher-ups to pull his files." Eighteen. "I don't think a child should be the one handling this. Prince's loyal servant or not, the SDF is far more capable of handling this."

"Go on, then, Akane. What other _useful_ information do you have?" Twenty.

Natsume looked to Hayashi briefly, who smiled and nodded encouragingly.

The brunette looked back to the screen. "As you know, our target is Sensui, Reikai's previous detective."

A few more sighs could be heard; they knew where this was going.

"Chapter Black disappeared when he did," she continued. "Officials argued to drop the case and not draw attention to the tape, some even refused to acknowledge a correlation between the two disappearances."

"While your information is appreciated…" Two. "Knowing Chapter Black is involved isn't helping your case, Miss Akane."

I could help, maybe… Should I? Would I rather Natsume show up, or other officials? Kurama would be there, I reminded myself. Would I rather have Natsume there, who never saw him fight at the tournament, or an official who did?

I didn't know what information I could give to persuade them. I dropped the first bit of info I figured may help, refraining from signing.

"Miss Akane, where is your father?" Eighteen.

I gestured for Hayashi's attention by nodding awkwardly, and once obtained, I dragged my index finger through the air. With slow strokes, I spelled out "prince."

"He's in New York City handling human business affairs," she replied. "He's given me reign over his estate while gone."

"What about Isao?" the woman asked.

Hayashi's brows furrowed as she looked at me, hoping I'd do it once more. I realized I wrote it backwards for her, as she was facing me. I dragged my finger through the air again, stroking out "prince" backwards and mouthing the word.

"He was uninterested in the case," she said. "I have taken over for the time of my father's brief absence."

She understood that time and quirked her head to the side, wondering if that would work. Wouldn't hurt to try.

Hayashi placed her hand on Natsume's knee and quietly asked. "May I?"

Natsume nodded and the blonde turned to the screen. "It's completely understandable that you all hold reserves on letting a younger, learning generation take control of this situation."

Two sighed. "More than _reserves_."

"But I'm almost positive you would not enjoy having to convince the Prince of Reikai, who will be present at the sight, to destroy the tape and those who saw it."

The screen hushed, and Matsumoto whispered. "'Those'? You mean…"

"Yes. _Those_." Natsume picked up then as all the voices erupted, frantically spouting questions. They hushed when she spoke again. "Sensui has been showing people the tape to recruit people to his cause. If you would like to be the one to argue your case in the defense against destroying that tape, I understand."

Matsumoto hesitated, but spoke finally. "And how would it look for a young, potential predecessor to argue this case?"

"Because I am a _young_ and_ hotheaded _potential predecessor." Natsume gave a toothy smile. "The notion will not be dismissed, but the reasoning behind it will be."

The screen was quiet again, as if they were all looking at each other to decide what to do.

"I'm willing to agree," the woman spoke first, hesitant.

With that, each jurisdiction began agreeing, albeit noticeably begrudgingly, until all but Matsumoto was left. Everyone waited for the head, and he eventually sighed.

"I'll agree under one condition."

Natsume nodded.

"I will be on standby. Contact me if you're unable to convince him. I want a thorough report as soon as you leave his presence."

Natsume's lips broke into a smug grin. "Gladly."

* * *

**Kazuma.**

At least with Aiko I thought I had a chance, what with her heart still possibly beating and all. She didn't have a gaping hole in her chest where her heart was… she had a chance…

Urameshi, though…

I stood up, pulling my head away from the second chest I searched for a heartbeat in today. I stared down at him, bloodied and bruised with that huge, stupid gaping hole in his chest bleeding out.

I'd been angry before—super angry. So angry I thought I could burst and just explode and take out an entire town with me. But right now, as my eyes carried from Urameshi to Sensui, who was talking calmly as if he just swatted a fly away that'd been buzzing around his ear…

He sat on the TV I'd spent hours avoiding when down here earlier, not wanting to look at footage from the tape he stole.

"Ah, the movie's over already," he said with a sigh, letting his arms lie leisurely on his knees. "I was so preoccupied I didn't get to listen to the ending. Too bad, it's a beautiful requiem—would have been fitting for his death. It's fine though, the real finale starts now."

I didn't care that the tunnel behind him had finally broken open—I would take all those youkai out no questions asked because I was going to get to him even if it took me a hundred years.

"Shall we see where this tunnel goes?" he taunted calmly, only making us even madder.

"I don't care where in Makai we end up!" I snapped.

Yeah, now… Now, I'd surpassed the feeling of tangible anger—you know, that anger that you felt in your head that pounded and pounded and got your blood pumping to where you had to hit something. The anger that has you blinded by feelings and fury.

I was far past that. And I reached… I realized I reached what could have been comparable to Sensui's anger.

That sociopathic wave that surfaces in the back of your head, comparable to hate. You aren't going to flail around to get stuff done or raise your voice to get your point across. You got a plan, you got a mission, and it's going to get done.

One way or another.

But it wasn't like Sensui—no, I wasn't going to take my anger out on everyone just because he did something. I had a plan, I had a mission, and it was going to get done.

I was going to make _him_ pay.

Hiei and Youko Kurama ran past me, heading to the wave of youkai that passed through the open tunnel. They were ready to clear the way to Sensui. They were like me—they reached that point.

I took one last glance down at Urameshi, and I found myself smirking at the idiot. I had a feeling I'd be seeing him in a few minutes, but I didn't care.

If anything, I'd go down in a blaze of glory and meet him in Reikai with my head held high.

Hiei released that dragon he had from the Dark Tournament, obliterating every youkai in its path and chasing after Sensui as he jumped into the tunnel. I followed after Kurama, jumping head first into the darkness.

I expected it to be quick like it was before, but I guess with how big the tunnel was the journey to the other side was going to be longer.

It was like falling down that famous rabbit hole: dark, long, winding, and gravity defying. The three of us soared through the tunnel, and I looked around the darkness, finding only Hiei and Kurama with me.

"Where the hell are we?" I asked.

"The alternate dimension space between Ningenkai's and Makai's dimensions." It was strange to hear Kurama answer me with a different voice.

I looked ahead, finding a glowing orange light patterned like a chain link fence in front of us… with Sensui behind us.

"Sensui!" Kurama growled at the sight.

"How the hell'd you get through it?!" I snapped.

He gave a weird, psychotic smile… it pissed me off even more. Why did he think of going to all this trouble? He should have just done us all a favor and locked himself in a psych ward way back when.

"I told you, my seikou-ki is a holy power," he answered. "The barrier only stops youki. Such a shame since it's ironic. His death awakened your real powers but now you can't pass the barrier to get to me." ******

Kurama reached forward and touched the light with the tips of his fingers, and the fence went haywire. It exploded at his touch, zapping his hand and sending electric currents in the air around him. He pulled his hand away, and though I saw it was blackened he didn't seem to mind.

"It's true," he mumbled to himself, no doubt thinking of another way to get around the barrier now with the way his eyes shifted around it.

I groaned, looking around the area, finding the barrier to span off into the horizon.

"The only thing that can cut through the barrier is your sword," Sensui said, eyes settling on me. "I'll let you mull it over, if you want to think about it. I'll wait here one day."

_I_ could get through. I was human. I could just walk through and chase after Sensui myself. Just at that thought like they figured it themselves, Kurama and Hiei glanced over their shoulders to me, waiting for my decision. I knew I couldn't leave them behind; they wanted this as bad as I did.

I could go through alone and leave the barrier intact or open it to fight with Kurama and Hiei and risk youkai coming through.

No matter what choice I picked it was a double-edge sword, just like mine…

My sword materialized in my hand as I beckoned for my reiki.

"Fuck that. I don't need to think about it," I growled, taking the hilt in both hands before lunging at the barrier and dragging the blade through it.

Like an actual chain-link, it broke apart and the cut pieces flailed in different directions, curling in as it swiveled back.

"I'm going to take my time killing you and then I'm going to take one of your arms to Urameshi's grave."

I'd clean up the mess in Ningenkai after I slaughtered this psychotic asshole.

* * *

**Aiko.**

Hayashi fiddled with her pearl earrings, ones I noticed she's wore since I met her, mindlessly as I thought of a lie to tell my father.

They would arrive at the airport soon. I knew I couldn't call until the tunnel closed, but the anxiety was gnawing away in my stomach because if I didn't call and they couldn't find me… they might actually get the police involved. That was the last thing I needed. But as much as I didn't want it, I had to risk it. I couldn't have them come home yet, not until it closed.

I hated waiting, hated doing this again. I didn't want to lie like this again—if Ningenkai survived, I probably wouldn't.

Guilt and stomach acid splashed around inside me as the car took some subtle turns on the bypasses and ramps. I stared down at the Nokia ten-eleven in my hands, wishing I could call now. I wished things went a better way, that we were going up to Misawa instead of down to Mushiyori.

A little tune came from the phone as the small screen lit up a faint green, and I jumped in surprise. The electronic jingle was quirky and cute, and Natsume held her hand out.

"Give me that."

I tossed her the phone, restraining myself from throwing it at her face. She caught it with both hands and then pressed the call button. Putting it to her face, she smiled excitedly.

"Akane speaking." Her excited smile drifted away slowly and a somber expression took its place. "We've moved up to level A-two?" Her voice was calm, but Hayashi let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I understand. The SDF's already been deployed? …Understood."

"A-two. Destruction of an entire country," Hayashi muttered to herself. "That means…"

Breath caught in my throat as I waited for Natsume's call to finish. Hayashi and Fukui were both sitting up in their seats now, as was I, eager to jump the brunette for details.

Natsume nodded slowly. "I will still be arriving to see if Lord Koenma is present and seize the tape… I understand. I will keep you updated."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, anxiety growing. Finally, she hung up. She crossed one leg over the other and her arms over her chest. Her eyes drifted around us; one by one we landed under her gaze.

With a calm tone, she spoke slowly. "Reikai's ruled Ningenkai's destruction level at A-two. The tunnel has opened."

We were expecting those words, but they hit us harder than we expected. Fukui leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms while Hayashi let out a heavy sigh and hung her head. I, despite shaking in my seat and being three seconds away from pissing myself, tried to be reassuring.

"But… they—Yu can still beat him, right? He can take care of plenty of youkai—"

"He's dead. The SDF was sent to handle it." Words and tone so blasé they were colder than ice, scraping every nerve of my central nervous system as they trailed down my spine.

I stared at her, lips going numb as they hung open.

"That's…" I inhaled sharply, almost choking. "That's not fucking funny."

She stared me down, unapologetic without a trace of humor lingering in her features. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

I lost all feeling in my face and neck, and the ice that had traveled down my central nervous system spanned into my peripheral, prickling every nerve numb. The only thing I could feel was the growing pounding in my head, the stinging in my eyes and bridge of my nose.

My head shook subtly, in tune with the heavy pounding that only grew with each beat, and my brain fizzed to what could only be comparable to static.

"Sensui killed him." Her hollow words pushed out my first dry sob.

I moved, finding my legs to pull me across the limo to Natsume's seat. I stumbled on the leather between the blonde and brunette and was able to find my arms and shove Natsume against the car door.

Luckily, among the static, my brain was able to send out a simple demand.

"Call again!" I screamed, feeling the heat of reiki glow around my hands as I gripped her white blouse's collar. "Call again—he _can't_ be dead!"

"When'd you level up?" She raised an eyebrow as she eyed my hands, more confused than scared. She then rolled her eyes. "Fuck, I can't believe I just said that. 'Level up.' What the fuck is this, _PokeMon_?"

"Call again!" My throat burned.

She remained calm as I tightened my grip and shoved her against the window harder, knocking her head against the glass. Hayashi was just inches behind me, ready to rip me from her if I became violent.

"Call again, goddammit!"

Natsume stared up at me, face stoic. I didn't expect her to react like me—a blubbering mess of tears, snot, and screams. But this was Yu. _Yusuke_. Who couldn't… who couldn't care about him?

"Look, they pulled his files," she said calmly, seemingly indifferent about being screamed at.

With my free hand, I snatched the phone from her and slammed it on the window next to her head, screaming. "Call them back! He's not dead! _Yusuke doesn't die_!"

Through the repeated slams against the window and my screams, I could barely make out her words. I didn't care about them. I wanted to hear: "I'll call them back."

Instead, I finally heard: "He's a youkai, too."

I paused, hand inches from the window. "…What?"

Barely disgruntled from the loud noise around her, she rolled her eyes when she noticed I finally stopped. "He's a youkai, too. They pulled his files and dug deep in his family history. Found he descended from a King in Makai."

I was so emotionally invested in one youkai already that it didn't even matter to me. "Is he fucking alive or not?!"

"He died but since there's a chance he could come back from the atavism, the SDF will take him out. They were sent out about an hour ago, they're probably already in the cave—now with new orders. They'll fix the barrier and make sure there's no way for him to come back."

The static disappeared as a sharp pain surged in the back of my head; my vision tainted a surreal tint of red.

I gripped the phone tightly, feeling the hard cover under my squeeze as I swung at her head. Before the phone connected to her skull, I was jerked away from the brunette. I flailed my limbs and screamed obscenities as I struggled to get out from Hayashi's grip. We toppled over into the open floor of the limo, and I yelled and swung blindly to get her off me.

Autopilot. Underneath my heated skin and bundle of haywire nerves were blood and a heart, nothing more. Blood roared in my ears as I swung at the blonde, head switched off. I wasn't in the fight to win, but to hurt.

Which was why the surreal red tint began to fade in disappointment and despair when my body realized it was losing. She blocked every jab or grab effortlessly, swatting my sparking hands away with ease and forcing me to the floor without breaking a sweat.

She pinned me to the carpet, straddling my stomach as she watched me shake with the adrenaline infused blood. I stared at the ceiling, through her, hyperventilating and body shaking rhythmically with each new heartbeat.

"It's going to be okay, Aiko," she said quietly, removing a hand from my pinned wrist to wipe away a new batch of tears rolling down my wet face.

An opening. I swung my free fist. Centimeters away from clocking her in the temple, she moved in a swift motion. Jerking her head back, she grabbed hold of my arm. Using my momentum, she lifted herself slightly to let me roll on my stomach before plopping on my back and pinning me again.

I forgot how to lift my head from the thick carpet floor. I forgot how to breathe. I could only cry.

The car's getting smaller. The car's getting smaller.

Hayashi cooed to me softly, saying "it'll be fine" as I sobbed and tried to regain control of myself. Finally, I could speak through the sobs.

"Don't touch him," was all I could say, filled with a new-found animosity.

I hated Reikai. I _hated_ Reikai. Why did they continue going after people who helped them? They were like a government, weren't they? They ruled over us—_humans. _They ruled over us to _protect_ us, right? But why didn't they try to see who our protectors were?

Through my sobs, I could still hear Hayashi's faint cooing. She shushed me gently, running her hands through my ponytail, smoothing it gently as she sat on me.

"Don't touch him," I sobbed again into the carpet, adrenaline dispersing. "Leave him alone. Yusuke doesn't die. He's—he _doesn't_. He worked hard to come back."

"Shhh." Hayashi stroked my matted hair again. "I'm sure we can work something out with them."

"He's worked _so_ hard for you guys," I cried, heart pounding harder, heavier. "He did so much for Reikai and you're going to kill him anyway…"

She shushed me again and slowly got off me to sit next to me. She began rubbing my back.

"We'll figure something out," she said.

"Christ. Don't get her hopes up, Ami," Natsume chided.

"I'm sure we can work something out." Hayashi ignored her, still rubbing my back as the brunette's words only hit me harder.

"He's stronger than Sensui." Natsume's voice was laced with irritation at Hayashi. "And Sensui is ranked as an S-class. Your friend's a threat to Ningenkai. Chances of his body being left alone are slim. They're going to _obliterate_ him, soul and all."

I rolled over and chucked the phone at Natsume, but Hayashi stopped me from getting up and pouncing on the brunette, wrapping her arms around my torso. I was slightly satisfied as I watched the phone fly at Natsume's face.

Natsume ducked, letting the phone fly into the window and shatter the glass on impact. Surprised, she turned around and watched through the broken window as the phone bounced off in the distance behind us, disappearing on the fleeting road's horizon.

"God _damn_…" Natsume said under her breath, ponytail swaying in the wind as she looked out the hole. "It broke the window…"

Hayashi barred me to the floor again, shushing me gently as I screamed. "Why would he turn against us? He fought for us! That's why he went against Sensui—he _died_ _for us_!"

Natsume groaned and looked over her shoulder to snap at me. "Who knows what the atavism will do when it kicks in—we're not taking chances."

She inhaled sharply and turned to pick up a stray shard of glass that landed on the seat. With the quick quirk of an eyebrow, she threw it behind her without care, sending it out the hole in the window.

"You don't just change personalities!" I screamed.

She stared down at me, expression calming as if she was talking to an ignorant child. "Power changes you."

"He's not like that! Yusuke's not like that!"

Hayashi shushed me again. "It'll be fine, Aiko."

She embraced me like a mother would her child, pulling me against her and laying my head on her chest, unafraid of my dirty hair potentially ruining her pretty, pristine white blouse. She smoothed my hair again as I gave in and accepted defeat.

They were going to take Yusuke from me. They were going to take Kurama from me. They were going to take them from me… They would take everyone from me.

And I couldn't do a thing about it…

Breathing hitched, adrenaline gone, my bitter bawling surfaced from pure despair. Disgustingly embarrassing. I felt a glimmer of guilt for crying snot and saliva on Hayashi's pretty white blouse with how caring she was, but it was fleeting as I remembered she wasn't calling off the kill. My throat tightened at the reminder, pushing out more painful cries as she held me close.

She rubbed my arms as she cradled me, and I soon exhausted myself into a quiet, numb oblivion. Stress and trauma took hold of my body quickly, gripping every nerve and vein strongly. The fog returned. My breathing steadied slowly as I shut down, staring at where the dark carpet met the large car doors.

"Just leave her there." Natsume's voice suddenly came through the fog, the first time any of them spoke since my tantrum.

I was moved and set against the edge of the seat, propped upright. I didn't bother moving as I watched the girls step out of the limo. The car door slammed behind them, thinning the fog in my head.

I glanced up to the rear view window with a deep breath, trying to wake up. I watched the tinted night sky through the window, taking note of the stars and how visible they were wherever we stopped.

Another car door slammed behind me, waking me up. Though a heavy hollowness settled in my heart, encouraging my body to stay idle and wallow in the emptiness, my curiosity was still alive.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, feeling the raw tissue as I croaked out. "Sosuke?"

The partition lowered and his voice came behind me from the driver's seat. "Yes, Miss Aiko?"

"...Do you know what actually goes on in this family?"

He hesitated before replying. "Sometimes."

"Then why do you still work for them?"

"It puts a roof over my head, money in the bank."

"...Oh."

He drummed his fingertips against the steering wheel for a moment. "We've arrived to the cave, Miss Aiko. Would you like to step out and get some fresh air?"

What was the point? I couldn't do anything but watch them execute Yusuke. "Not really."

"I think if you stepped outside, you'd feel a lot better."

When I didn't reply, I heard him shuffling, then a car door opening and closing. It was then the car door next to me opened, and I saw the driver who'd witnessed my struggles in his car twice. I forced myself to look up to the young driver. With thin lips, he gave me a small smile before sitting in the seat across from me. White gloved hands clasped together as he sat upright.

His smile was familiar but I couldn't place where from. I knew, though, his sharp cheek bones reminded me of Kazuma.

I wondered if he was okay. Was Kurama okay?

"The tunnel's being handled by the SDF right?" I asked, eyes comfortable staring at the empty seat next to him. "They're going to do something about it?"

"Yes."

I should probably call my parents before they get to the cops. "You don't happen to have a phone, do you?"

"No, but Miss Ami has a phone in her purse," he replied, and I looked up to him nodding to the purse to my left. "I'm sure she won't mind if you use her phone."

With a deep breath I leaned over and reached to her leather purse and pulled out an identical Nokia. It was a struggle to pull myself back upright, but I succeeded with a small groan. My fingers hovered over the numbers, remembering Hatanaka's cell number.

Was the last digit two or four?

"Who are you going to call?" Sosuke asked.

"My dad," I replied slowly. "If the tunnel's closing they can come back home… Maybe he'll be mad enough that he'll put me in a coma so I don't have to feel anything anymore."

I figured to go with two, and dialed his number as he stared at me with furrowed brows, sad eyes.

"Does your dad hit you, Miss Aiko?" he asked.

"He gets mad at me easily," I replied, pulling the phone to my ear and letting my eyes fall to the carpet floor. "I don't blame him."

Hatanaka's voice sounded after the second ring. "Hello? Kazuya speaking."

"Hello, Hatanaka," I mumbled. "It's Aiko."

"We've been looking for you!" he sighed in relief. "Where are you?"

"About that… could I speak to my dad?"

"Of course, here he is." The phone was passed off to my father, who didn't speak.

"Dad?" I watched Sosuke as he watched me talk to my father. He had no expression on his face, like he was tense to hear what my dad was capable of.

"Yeah." My dad was curt.

Even though I wanted to be smacked unconscious, I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth—not over the phone.

"I'm sorry I didn't call earlier." Wow, Aiko. Sound more sincere, why don't you? That lifeless tone really puts the cherry on top of that apology. "I ran into Natsume's father at the airport and he offered us a ride home."

"Okay."

…Okay?

Fear began trickling in me, forcing emotion into my voice. That one word was enough stimuli for about two years, the emptiness that once had a strong grip around my chest was gone.

"He was on a business call and I couldn't call unt—"

"Uh-huh."

"Dad?" I was greeted by silence. He'd hung up.

Sosuke hesitated in front of me as I stared down at the floor, hand dropping to my side. He was unsure of what to say or do.

Finally he spoke, voice cautious. "Miss Aiko, are you okay?"

I shrugged and took a deep breath before tossing the phone back into Hayashi's little black purse. "Guess I'll see Yusuke in Reikai and we'll be sentenced together."

That was actually a comforting thought.

His familiar smile returned as he leaned over and closed the door he came in from. "Are you sure you don't want to get some fresh air?"

"I'll be breathing plenty of Reikai air in a few hours so yeah. I'm sure."

He took his driver's cap off and ruffled his black hair in thought before putting it back on. He looked out the car window and smiled again.

"Miss Aiko, I truly think you'd like what you see if you stepped outside."

"Is everyone alive?" I asked, glancing up to him in hope. Surely he wouldn't encourage me if they weren't.

Leaning over, he got up and opened the door next to me. Stepping over me and into the open air, he leaned back in the car and extended his gloved hand. I slipped my hand in his, and he helped me stumble out of the limousine.

I never thought he'd be right. The fresh air unclogged my mind in the first inhale; the chill of the breeze swishing by was like a shot of caffeine. I searched around the forest scenery to find a large group of people a couple of yards away near the entrance of the cave.

In the bright moonlight, I could recognize everyone. My heart swelled with relief seeing Kazuma and Kurama alive and well, and I sighed in confused hope upon seeing the long-haired young male in their group.

It had to be Yusuke—it _had_ to be.

He turned slightly, and I saw the familiar curve in his cheeks and the signature, perky slant of his eyes. He was alive. My heart about burst with relief—I knew it. _Yusuke doesn't die_.

Trouble lingered behind the group, though, as a large group of armored individuals stepped out of the cave. I knew instantly they had to be the SDF because as Natsume and her henchwomen approached the Prince, they stood their ground at the entrance of the cave as the girls' silent support.

I never thought I'd see Natsume bow to another, though I figured Reikai royalty would be the only fitting exception. With her right hand placed over the void where her heart should be and her left arm bent behind her, lying on the small of her back, she bowed deeply at the waist. Fukui and Hayashi followed suit.

Sosuke walked with me as I inched closer to the group, curious what she was going to say, fury already building in my stomach. She hadn't even opened her mouth yet.

"Get the fuck out of here," Yusuke snapped at her, validating my anger. "You're not welcome."

"My name is Natsume, Akane, my Lord." Natsume ignored him, speaking directly to the Prince as she stayed bowed. "I'm here on behalf of Mr. Matsumoto, head of jurisdiction four, including the city of Mushiyori."

The Prince stared down at her with little interest, his pacifier twitching gently between his lips. "You can stand straight now."

The three did so, but not without leaving their hands over their chests.

"I am here for multiple requests, sir," Natsume continued. "One has already been brought to your attention regarding your detective, Urameshi, Yusuke."

He remained calm, though in his tone one could detect a slight hint of irritation. "It's been discussed."

I breathed a sigh of relief—the Prince cared for Yusuke! We had a chance.

Yusuke sucked his teeth, and Kazuma, who was holding the unconscious shrimp-dick midget by his collar, clenched his teeth to refrain from telling her off. Even Botan was pursing her lips to keep her tongue.

"And the decision?" she asked.

"Still being discussed."

She inhaled sharply, repressing anger. "My next request is to have the video tape destroyed immediately."

The Prince then raised an eyebrow. "…If you give me some plausible reasons, I will consider it."

She replied without missing a beat. "It's vile, defamation, and is a tool of torture used to brainwash and breed hatred, as you have witnessed throughout this case."

"You do understand they are files of Ningenkai's history, right? They can't be eradicated so easily."

"Not only is the tape never watched, this tool of history helped breed this situation, my Lord. It could create more issues if not taken care of and could result in this again. If you will not destroy it for historical reasons, may I consider a more heavily, extremely guarded vault, like the Great King's, to ensure its seclusion?"

The pacifier continued twitching gently, and he side glanced to the boys and then me before looking back at Natsume. "Your points will be taken into consideration."

I couldn't see her face, but I knew she had to repress an ugly scowl at his words.

"Your next request?" he asked.

"Is my last," she said. And with her next words, I watched her hand fall from her chest only to point an index finger at another member of the group, one of my boys. "I'm requesting an ancestral background check on your employee, Minamino, Shuichi."

Another sharp pain surged in the back of my neck, pounding in my head as blood roared in my ears. Kurama, however, didn't seem to care.

"Reasons why?" the prince asked.

I shoved past Sosuke, on a mission to _destroy_.

"If your detective was able to slip under our radar and hold youkai blood in him without any signs, then it's possible for him as well."

The pacifier stopped twitching and he stared down at the potential predecessor. Even he had to be wondering how she could have sunk her fangs in so deep—thinking about how she couldn't refuse the chance to suck her victim dry. She was a _leech_—no, all these Reikai employees were so much worse, so disgusting and degrading a blood-sucking breed—

My screech echoed down the mountain, words flying out without thought. "All you people are _vampires_!"

Hayashi glanced over her shoulder to me, eyebrow cocked in surprise at the diction.

"Aiko?" Yusuke sputtered my name as he and the boys turned to see me. He held his newly marked hands up in resignation. "Why am I not surprised?!"

Fukui turned around first with an entertained smile on her face. Hayashi turned around next, reaching for the clawed hand I sent Natsume's way—ready to grab her by her hair.

Hayashi's fingers wrapped around my wrist as she stepped around me, dragging my arm and pinning it to my back, sparking an uncomfortable pain in my joint. Her other arm wrapped around my neck in a choke-hold as she dragged me away from Natsume.

"Don't touch her!" Yusuke snapped, stepping forward to Hayashi.

One of the armored men stepped away from his post in front of the cave in assertion, and Yusuke bristled, pausing in his stride. He glanced over to the man, ready to head in his direction and fight. Kurama, though, quickly gripped his shoulder in hopes to tame him. Once Yusuke stopped moving, the man did as well.

"It's best to not agitate things further," Kurama said before side-eyeing Hayashi. "She won't hurt Aiko."

My voice didn't lower, and though I was pulled away from Natsume's reach, I still used my free hand to give the armored man the bird. "Stop trying to take away the ones who protect us! They both fought for us and you're trying to _kill them, _you fucking mindless_ sheep_!"

Natsume turned away from me and to the Prince, speaking hastily. "I _sincerely_ apologize for her outburst."

He replied with an uncaring shrug.

"It wasn't directed at me." When she bristled, trying to keep composure, he continued. "I can assure you Minamino is an exceptional human, but to reassure you and give you peace of mind, I'll send you his history within the next few days."

She cocked her head to the side, suppressing the urge to give him attitude. Through gritted teeth, she spoke. "So, to recap, my lord: the situation regarding Urameshi, Yusuke, is still being discussed. You will only _consider_ destroying the tape and those who saw it. And Minamino, Shuichi's files will come in a few days."

He nodded. "Seems to be so, Akane."

With another sharp inhale, she let out a controlled exhale through gritted teeth. "Thank you for your time, Lord Koenma."

"I'll let you know for our first meeting, you did well. Don't take my answers too hard, either; I would have given any official the same responses."

She paused, going rigidly stiff as she hesitated giving a reply. "Thank you."

"You'll receive an update on each of your requests in a few days, Akane. I'll have them delivered directly to you."

She was reluctant to move, and I could see the cogs turning in her head as she pondered on anything else she may need to say.

"I will relay everything to Mr. Matsumoto immediately, and I'll have him contact you with any further questions then, sir." She then bowed and turned on her heels to leave.

Hayashi let go of me once Natsume stepped next to me, and Fukui and Hayashi followed suit with the bow of respect to the Prince as I stood upright.

Natsume gripped my arm and yanked me close. Her warm breath enveloped my ear as she snarled condescendingly.

"Since you love this youkai trash so much, you can head home with them," she hissed to me before letting go and walking towards the limo. "When you decide to wise up, see me—before_ I_ decide you _need_ to wise up."

"Akane," the Prince called after her, and she turned around to make eye contact, becoming rigidly straight again.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"I do hope you won't take Hojo's outbursts around me to heart," he said simply. "I'm aware she's been close with my detective since he was first employed. She's only acting out of emotions and I've taken no offence."

"Yes, sir." Natsume nodded before casting an annoyed glance my way. "I won't hold it against her."

He flicked a limp wrist at her with a simple tone. "You've done well. You may go."

I bit my tongue as I heard the car doors slam shut, still shaking from anger. As the limousine left, the SDF spoke their final words to the Prince.

"Don't think you can get away with any of this, Lord Koenma." The man I presumed the leader threatened the adult brunet. "Reikai will not forgive these actions."

"I know. I accept full responsibility," the Prince replied, tone far harsher now as he turned to the army.

Yusuke sucked his teeth and stepped in front of Koenma. The group tensed, hoping he'd attack first so they could take him out.

"Listen up. I don't usually pick fights with people I know I can beat, but if they bring me beef I have no reason handling it." He placed his hands on his hips, and the gesture was definitely more threatening with his new blood. "Koenma did the right thing and you assholes don't have the right to hassle him about it. So come on, try messing with _any_ of us again. I dare you."

The leader, an older man with a mustache, ground his teeth in anger and glared at the boy with long hair and new markings. With a low growl, he lept in the air first, and his army followed suit, disappearing into the sky surrounded by ki. And though they left on that note, the reiki they emitted from just bounding into the sky together showed they were willing to throw down with Yusuke any day.

The silence that came with their departure was thick, and everyone stood near the cave's opening with a change in demeanor.

A weight lifted off everyone's shoulder and everyone but me seemed to relish in the air of relief. I looked between the three boys—the two shades of red and the stupid, long-haired raven—and let a new wave of emotions pour out. Some I never thought I'd feel again after this, at least not so soon.

Relief, appreciation, and everything between… I found myself crying again as I ran to the idiot boy I thought I lost just a while ago. Arms wrapped around his dirty and battered torso, I could hear his childish laughter as he slid an arm around my back, holding me tight in expectancy of tunnel vision.

"Look, Aiko's crying! What a moron!"

* * *

**A/N:**

*** **¥287 M is roughly $2.8 M or £1.7 M.

Usually I don't play with inflation rates because dealing with that and converting it to yen's inflation rates is a hassle but I _tried_ to make the prices suitable for the nineties.

****** _Seikou-ki_ is "golden ki" or "holy ki." Assumed to be the highest ranking ki a human could master after severe training. Essentially relatable to the S-class version of classification for humans, from my understanding.

Thanks to _OhhTaylorJade, Gimei, hollyandthediamonds, YuYuHakushoObsesser, _and a guest for reviewing last chapter, and everyone who's followed and faved. And a shout-out to those rock-hard Nokia jokes. Muah.


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